IRLF 


Elfl 


KONINGSMARKE, 


OR, 


OLD  TIMES  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD 


"This  affair  being  taken  into  consideration,  it  was  adjudged 
that  Koningsmarke,  commonly  called  the  Long  Finne,  deserved 
to  die;  yet,  in  regard  that  many  concerned  in  the  affair  being 
simple  and  ignorant  people,  it  was  thought  fit  to  order  that  the 
Long  Finne  should  be  severely  ********»*." 

Fragment  of  Minutes  of  Council  in  New- York. 


NEW  EDITION    REVISED  AND    CORRECTED, 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.  II. 


NEW-YORK : 

PUBLISHED   BY   HARPER   &   BROTHERS, 
82    CLIFF-STREET. 

1835, 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1835, 

By  HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 
In  the  .Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-YorK 


KONINGSMARKE. 


BOOK   FIFTH.-   • 


CHAPTER  IV. 

«  Then  straight  they  seiz'd  their  tomahawks,  and  fast  (not  very 
They  on  their  cruel  business  all  silently  did  go,  [slow) 

Until  they  came  to  where  the  gentle  stream  did  flow ; 
And  then  with  blood  did  quickly  run  the  river  Ohio." 

Western  Boatman's  Balla4- 

THE  war  party,  accompanied  by  Koningsmarke, 
and  the  new  chief,  the  Jumping  Sturgeon,  dressed 
in  the  manner  before  described,  proceeded  with 
great  celerity  on  its  march  towards  the  Ohio.  The 
savages  never  encumber  themselves  with  baggage, 
and  generally  fight  in  a  breech-cloth,  leggins  and 
moccasins.  Although  there  is  no  punishment  but 
that  of  disgrace  among  them,  they  act  in  concert 
on  their  war  expeditions,  and  obey  the  orders  of 
the  chief  warrior  with  cheerfulness  and  punctuality. 
The  officers  lay  the  plan  of  attack,  and  conduct 
the  operations  until  the  battle  commences,  when 
every  man  fights  for  himself,  as  if  the  victory  de 
pended  on  him  alone.  The  order  to  advance  or 
retreat  is  generally  given  with  a  yell  or  a  shout, 
which  is  readily  understood  and  obeyed.  No 


9S9819 


.  -  ^  ^  ^  X      *  * 

I    »  **  \ 

KONINGSMARKE. 


corporeal  punishment  was  permitted  or  practised 
among  these  tribes,  either  in  peace  or  war,  except 
in  retaliation  for  similar  outrages ;  and  such  was 
their  abhorrence  of  stripes,  that  they  never  even 
chastised  their  children.  On  one  occasion,  a  chief 
beat  his  son,  a  boy  of  about  ten  years  old,  during 
the  absence  of  its  mother,  who,  on  her  return,  was 
so  indignant  at  the  outrage,  that  she  took  the  boy 
with  her,  and  departed,  like  another  Hagar,  to  the 
wilderness.  Her  husband  traced  her  to  a  distant 
tribe,  and,  being  unable  to  persuade  her  to  return, 
remained  with  her,  and  never  joined  his  friends 
afterward.  The  only  punishment  inflicted  on 
children,  is  that  of  ducking,  which  accounts  for  a 
saying  among  them,  that  their  pappooses  are  always 
better  in  winter  than  in  summer,  as  they  do  not  mind 
a  ducking  in  warm  weather. 

The  party  proceeded  with  that  silence  and 
celerity,  so  characteristic  of  the  red  men  of  the 
western  hemisphere,  until  they  arrived  within  about 
half  a  day's  journey  of  the  village  inhabited  by  their 
enemies.  Each  man  was  then  forbidden  either  to 
make  a  noise,  or  fire  a  gun,  and  they  remained 
lying  on  the  ground,  in  the  thick  woods,  until  dark, 
when  they  commenced  their  march,  with  even 
greater  caution  and  swiftness  than  before.  Their 
object  was  to  effect  a  complete  surprise,  by  ap 
proaching  the  village  without  even  alarming  the 
dogs,  those  watchful  guardians  of  the  night.  About 
two  hours  before  day  they  arrived  at  the  little  town. 


• 
KONINGSMARKE. 


There  was  not  a  fire  burning,  and  every  soul  in  it 
seemed  fast  asleep.  Not  a  sound  was  heard,  ex 
cept  the  owl  and  the  wolf,  the  former  screaming, 
the  latter  howling  his  dismal  notes  at  a  distance. 
All  at  once,  and  just  before  the  Muskrats  and  Mud 
Turtles  had  made  their  final  dispositions  for  the 
onset,  a  deep-mouthed  hound  yelled  forth  the  signal 
of  alarm,  which  was  answered  by  a  hundred  others 
in  an  instant. 

At  the  sound  of  this  well-known  signal,  the  sleep 
ing  warriors  of  the  village  started  up,  and,  seizing 
their  arms,  rushed  out,  while  the  assailants  as  sud 
denly  came  upon  them.  The  village  fronted  close 
on  the  river's  bank,  which  consisted  of  two  steps, 
or  terraces,  rising  one  above  the  other,  the  upper 
most  receding  fifteen  or  twenty  paces  in  the  rear 
of  the  other.  These  are  generally  denominated, 
at  the  present  time,  the  first  and  second  banks  of 
the  rivers  of  the  west.  Below  ran  the  Ohio,  with 
a  deep  and  somewhat  rapid  current. 

An  Indian  battle  is  like  one  of  Homer's,  and 
consists,  for  the  most  part,  in  a  series  of  personal 
contests.  Each  one  singles  out  his  adversary,  and 
personal  strength  and  prowess  carry  the  day. 
Dire  was  the  yelling  and  shouting  which  suc 
ceeded  the  alarm  in  the  village.  The  warriors  of 
the  Ohio,  though  taken  by  surprise,  fought  manfully, 
and  the  various  feats  of  arms  performed  that  morn 
ing,  might  throw  into  the  shade  the  splendid  acts 
of  tilt  and  tourney.  Among  those  who  most  dis- 

VOL.  II B  2 


b  KONINGSMARKE. 

tinguished  themselves  on  this  occasion,  was  the 
Jumping  Sturgeon,  who,  making  a  virtue  of  neces 
sity,  and  not  daring  to  run  away,  fought  right 
valiantly,  from  pure  instinct,  to  save  his  life. 

He  was  singled  out  by  a  tall  Indian,  just  about 
daylight,  who,  watching  the  moment  when  he  had 
discharged  his  gun,  and  before  he  could  load  again, 
quickly  advanced  upon  him  with  his  lifted  toma 
hawk.  The  Sturgeon  clubbed  his  musket,  and 
both  slowly  approached,  cautiously  eyeing  each 
other.  At  length  the  tall  chief  let  fly  his  toma 
hawk,  which  his  adversary  watching,  presented  his 
buffalo  cap  with  such  surprising  judgment,  that  the 
weapon  was  received  upon  one  of  the  horns,  and 
fell  innocuous  to  the  ground,  doing  the  Sturgeon 
no  other  damage  than  that  of  setting  his  head  to 
ringing  bob-majors.  Taking  advantage,  however, 
of  the  temporary  confusion  created  by  this  said 
ringing,  the  tall  chief  suddenly  rushed  upon  the 
ci-devant  high  constable  of  Elsingburgh,  before  he 
could  make  a  blow  with  his  musket,  and  a  mortal 
contest  of  skill  and  strength  took  place.  They  fell, 
the  tall  Indian  uppermost.  In  this  situation  the 
Indian  began  to  yell  horribly,  and  to  feel  for  his 
knife  ;  but,  luckily  for  the  Jumping  Sturgeon,  his 
adversary  wore,  by  way  of  ornament,  that  day,  a 
woman's  apron,  which  he  had  bought  from  a  French 
trader,  and,  in  the  hurry  of  surprise,  tied  on  over 
his  knife.  This  prevented  his  getting  it  out  as 
quickly  as  he  otherwise  would  have  done,  and 


KONINGSMARKE.  7 

enabled  Lob  Dotterel,  alias  the  Jumping  Sturgeon, 
to  get  one  of  his  thumbs  into  his  mouth.  This  not 
only  disabled  one  of  the  Indian's  hands,  but  embar 
rassed  the  operation  of  the  other,  by  the  pain  it 
occasioned.  At  length  the  Indian  got  hold  of  the 
blade  of  his  knife,  just  below  the  haft,  at  the  mo 
ment  the  other  found  an  opportunity  to  seize  the 
handle,  chewing  the  Indian's  thumb  all  the  while 
with  great  vigour.  As  the  Indian  pulled  the  knife 
out  of  the  scabbard,  Lob  gave  his  thumb  a  terrible 
screw  between  his  teeth,  and,  at  the  same  moment, 
jerked  the  knife  through  his  hand,  cutting  the  fingers 
to  the  bone.  This  disconcerted  the  Indian,  so  that 
he  relaxed  his  hold,  and,  by  a  sudden  effort,  the 
other  threw  him  off  and  jumped  on  his  feet,  just  as 
the  Indian  did  the  same.  The  valiant  Sturgeon, 
however,  continued  to  hold  fast  the  Indian's  thumb 
between  his  grinders  with  singular  tenacity,  and 
thus  maintained  a  decided  advantage  over  his  an 
tagonist,  to  whose  ribs  he  was  at  length  enabled  to 
apply  the  knife  he  had  wrested  from  him.  The 
moment  he  felt  the  application,  although  it  was 
arrested  by  the  said  ribs,  the  Indian  gave  a  yell, 
and,  with  a  violent  start,  drew  part  of  his  thumb 
from  betwixt  the  high  constable's  grinders,  a  por 
tion  of  it  remaining  behind,  and  retreated  with 
great  precipitation,  leaving  his  adversary  master 
of  the  field. 

In  the  meantime  the  battle  raged  with  great  fury 
in  the  village,  and  along  the  river's  bank.     The 


KONINGSMARKE. 


Long  Finne  having,  in  the  confusion  of  the  fight, 
followed  a  stout  chief  to  the  edge  of  the  first 
bank,  the  latter  suddenly  turned  about,  seized,  and 
drew  him  down  on  the  beach,  just  at  the  edge  of 
the  water,  where  was  hid  an  Indian  boy,  of  about 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  The  Long  Finne 
fell  uppermost,  but  during  the  struggle  to  keep  him 
down,  the  warrior  said  something  to  the  Indian  lad, 
who  ran  up  the  bank  like  a  deer,  and  almost  in 
stantly  returned  with  a  tomahawk.  On  perceiving 
his  approach,  the  large  Indian  put  his  arms  about 
Koningsmarke,  and  held  him  fast  with  all  his 
strength,  while  the  other  approached  with  his  lifted 
tomahawk.  Thus  pinioned,  the  youth  had  no  other 
resource  but  to  watch  the  blow  of  the  Indian  lad, 
which  he  opportunely  arrested  by  a  kick,  that 
knocked  it  from  his  grasp  to  some  distance.  At 
this,  the  large  Indian  uttered  an  exclamation  of 
contempt  for  the  lad,  who  immediately  ran  and 
picked  up  the  tomahawk,  with  which  he  again  ap 
proached,  but  with  great  caution,  making  various 
evolutions  and  pretended  blows  to  deceive  Kon 
ingsmarke,  till  he  got  an  opportunity  to  give  the 
fatal  one.  Such,  however,  was  the  vigilance  and 
activity  of  Koningsmarke,  that  he  escaped  this  time, 
with  a  wound  in  his  arm,  that  failed  in  disabling 
him.  Perceiving  the  lad  was  returning  again  to 
repeat  the  blow,  and  being  conscious  that  this  mode 
of  warfare  must  result  entirely  to  his  disadvantage, 
he  made  a  sudden,  violent,  and  unexpected  effort, 


KONINGSMARKE.  SJ 

escaped  from  the  embrace  of  the  large  Indian, 
gained  his  feet,  seized  his  musket,  which  he  had 
dropped  in  falling  down  the  bank,  and  shot  the 
Indian  boy  through  the  heart,  as  he  ran  up  a  third 
time  with  his  tomahawk. 

The  large  Indian  was  now  on  his  feet  also,  and, 
suddenly  seizing  Koningsmarke  by  the  leg,  pitched 
him  heels  over  head  into  the  water.  The  same 
impulse  carried  the  Indian  down  the  slippery  bank 
after  him  ;  and  now  a  desperate  and  deadly  strug 
gle  ensued,  each  straining  every  nerve,  and  exert 
ing  every  art  and  effort  to  drown  his  adversary. 
Sometimes  one  would  be  under,  and  sometimes  the 
other,  until,  half  strangled,  Koningsmarke  had  the 
good  fortune  to  seize  the  Indian  by  the  only  lock 
of  hair  he  wore  on  his  head.  By  this  means  he 
was  enabled  to  force  his  head  under  water,  and  to 
keep  it  there.  This  appeared  to  decide  the  con 
flict.  The  efforts  of  the  Indian  seemed  gradually 
to  relax,  and  to  become  apparently  unpurposed,  as 
if  he  was  fast  sinking  into  insensibility.  Konings 
marke  relaxed  his  grasp,  and  discovered  too  late 
the  wily  stratagem.  The  moment  he  let  go  his 
hair  the  Indian  was  on  his  feet  again,  and  the  con 
test  was  renewed,  until,  as  they  by  degrees  pushed 
each  other  into  the  stream,  they  were  borne  by  the 
current  beyond  their  depth. 

The  instinct  of  self-preservation  soon  took  an 
other  direction.  Each,  as  if  actuated  by  one  im 
pulse,  now  let  go  of  the  other,  and  made  for  the 


10  KONINGSMARKB. 

shore,  to  seize  the  weapons  which  were  lying  there, 
consisting  of  the  tomahawk  and  two  guns,  one  of 
which,  belonging  to  the  Indian,  had  not  been  dis 
charged.  The  Indian  was  the  better  swimmer  of 
the  two,  and  succeeded  in  gaining  the  shore  first. 
He  ran  to  the  loaded  musket,  and  almost  at  the 
same  moment  Koningsmarke  seized  the  tomahawk. 
The  Indian  raised  the  gun,  took  a  sure  and  deadly 
aim,  and  drew  the  trigger.  The  gun  snapped,  and 
before  the  savage  warrior  could  cock  her  again, 
the  active  youth  sprung  upon  him,  and  buried  the 
tomahawk  in  his  burning  brain.  He  uttered  a  hor 
rible  yell ;  but  even  in  the  agonies  of  death,  re 
membering  the  point  of  honour,  which  among  the 
sons  of  the  forest,  consists  in  not  leaving  their  dead 
bodies  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  with  a  dying 
effort  he  plunged  into  the  stream,  where  he  was 
carried  down  the  current,  beyond  the  reach  of  his 
enemies. 

By  this  time,  the  resistance  of  the  Indian  villa 
gers  had  ceased.  They  had  fought  long  enough 
to  enable  their  wives  and  children  to  escape  be 
yond  the  river,  and  having  lost  many  of  their  best 
warriors,  besides  others  that  were  wounded,  the 
survivors  took  an  opportunity,  at  a  well-known  sig 
nal,  to  plunge  into  the  stream,  where,  by  dexter 
ously  diving  at  every  discharge  of  their  enemies, 
and  other  evolutions,  they  finally  gained  the  oppo 
site  bank,  and  disappeared.  The  victors  then  set 
fire  to  the  village,  after  plundering  it;  yelled, 


KONINGSMARKE.  11 

danced,  feasted,  and  sung,  during  the  rest  of  the  day, 
and  at  night  departed  in  triumph  to  their  homes. 

But  we  ought  not  to  omit  mentioning,  that,  after 
all,  the  success  of  the  expedition  of  the  Muskrats 
and  Mud  Turtles,  was,  in  no  small  degree,  owing 
to  that  great  medicine,  Lob  Dotterel's  wig.  The 
wig  had  been  solemnly  consigned  to  the  custody 
of  the  principal  priest,  or  conjurer,  who  clapped  it 
on  his  head,  and  accompanied  the  party.  When 
the  battle  commenced,  the  conjurer  danced,  sung, 
cut  capers,  and  made  such  an  intolerable  noise,  as 
to  excite  the  particular  attention  of  one  of  the  hostile 
chiefs,  who  immediately  advanced  to  silence  him. 
The  conjurer  retreated — the  warrior  followed — 
and,  coming  up  with  him,  seized  his  queue,  which, 
to  his  utter  dismay,  came  off,  leaving  the  pate  of 
the  conjurer  perfectly  uninjured.  The  simple  war^- 
rior  of  the  forest  was  dismayed  at  this  strange 
wonder ;  and  it  was  soon  whispered  about  that 
the  enemy  were  in  possession  of  a  great  medicine, 
which  preserved  their  heads  at  the  expense  of  their 
hair.  This  discouraged  the  Ohio  warriors,  so  that 
they  did  not  fight  with  a  good  heart  afterward. 
On  such  trifles  do  the  fate  of  villages,  cities,  and 
empires  turn ! 


BOOK  SIXTH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Of  the  vulgar,  and  in  what  it  principally  consists, 

LOUNGING  the  other  day  into  a  bookseller's  shop,  / 
I  was  somewhat  astounded  at  hearing  a  fashionable 
and  exceedingly  well  dressed  young  fellow,  affirm 
that  Fielding  was  an  exceedingly  vulgar  writer. 
Nay,  he  went  so  far  as  to  say  the  same  of  Swift, 
Pope,  Smollett,  Arbuthnot,  Steele,  and  even  Addi- 
son,  and  that  as  to  the  early  English  dramatists, 
with  Shakspeare  at  their  head,  not  one  of  them  was 
fit  to  introduce  into  genteel  company.  He  con 
cluded,  by  giving  it  as  his  decided  opinion,  that 
until  the  present  enlightened  age,  there  had  been 
no  such  thing  known,  as  a  truly  refined  and  well 
bred  literature. 

We  felt  a  strong  disposition  to  contest  this  point 
with  the  gentleman,  but  on  comparing  the  material 
and  cut  of  his  coat  with  our  own,  we  were  struck 
with  such  a  humiliating  sense  of  inferiority,  that 
we  were  fain  to  retreat  to  our  attic  story,  lest  we 
might  be  guilty  of  the  violent  indecorum  of  con 
tradicting  so  well  dressed  a  person.  Reflecting  in 

VOL.  ii — c 


14  KONINGSMARKE. 

retirement  on  these  matters,  we  gradually  groped 
our  way,  at  last,  to  the  probable  origin  of  this  the 
ory  of  the  well  dressed  critic,  which  is,  we  believe, 
pretty  generally  received  in  all  fashionable  society. 
With  a  considerable  portion  of  romance  readers, 
every  thing,  not  fashionable,  is  of  course  vulgar. 
A  worthy  farmer,  or  mechanic,  in  a  clean  white 
frock  and  thick-soled  shoes,  is  vulgar,  and  therefore 
ought  not  to  be  introduced  into  a  genteel  novel. 
The  picture  of  a  village  group  dancing,  is  of  ne 
cessity  vulgar,  because  they  are  not  fashionably 
dressed,  dance  with  most  unseemly  zeal,  vigour, 
and  activity,  as  if  they  actually  enjoyed  themselves, 
and  above  all  are  egregiously  ignorant  of  the  waltz, 
the  gallopade,  and  the  mazourka.  In  short,  with 
this  class  of  readers  and  critics,  every  trait  of  na 
ture,  and  every  exhibition  of  character  or  manners, 
or  dress,  which  does  not  come  up  to  the  standard  of 
fashionable  elegance,  is  necessarily  low  and  vulgar. 

Compared  indeed  with  a  masquerade,  where  all 
the  mysteries  of  intrigue  are  practised,  or  a  fash 
ionable  ball,  where  nakedness  stares  us  in  the  face, 
the  country  hop  may  be  perfectly  innocent  and 
pure  ;  but  still  it  must  be  low,  vulgar,  and  indecent, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  because  the  dancers  are  not 
fashionable  people,  nor  the  dances,  decorations, 
and  music,  such  as  would  be  tolerated  by  a  fash 
ionable  amateur. 

If  we  trace  this  vulgar  error,  for  vulgar  it  seems 
to  us,  in  the  highest  degree,  we  shall  find  it  in 


KONINGSMARKE.  15 

general,  flowing  from  a  false  opinion  with  respect 
to  what  really  constitutes  gentility  and  refinement. 
In  the  general  estimation,  these,  as  opposed  to  vul 
garity,  consist  not  in  moral  or  intellectual  superi 
ority,  but  in  mere  outward  dress,  and  certain  ad 
vantages  of  equipage,  title,  or  wealth.  With  some, 
gentility  consists  in  eating  with  a  silver  fork,  instead 
of  a  knife  ;  with  others,  it  consists  in  dining  by 
candle,  instead  of  daylight ;  with  others,  in  talking 
bad  French  instead  of  bad  English  ;  with  others,  in 
a  constant  and  enthusiastic  attendance  on  Italian 
operas,  which  they  cannot  understand,  in  prefer 
ence  to  English  plays,  which  they  can ;  in  short, 
the  most  trifling  peculiarity,  either  natural  or  af-. 
fected,  is  sufficient  to  stamp  a  person  as  genteel  in 
the  estimation  of  the  votaries  of  fashion.  Such 
opinions  are  generally,  if  not  always,  the  offspring' 
of  ignorance  and  vulgarity  combined  ;  and  accord-, 
ingly  we  shall  for  the  most  part  find,  that  those  who 
declaim  against  books  for  being  vulgar,  and  are 
most  afraid  of  their  contamination,  are  the  vulgar 
themselves,  or  at  least  those  pretenders  to  refine 
ment  who  graduate  gentility  by  the  scale  we  have 
just  mentioned. 

The  ridiculous  impression  which  the  vulgar  of 
the  class  we  are  sketching,  entertain  with  respect 
to  the  indissoluble  connexion  of  outward  splendours, 
and  above  all,  rank  and  title,  with  refinement  and 
good  breeding,  is  perhaps  stronger  in  this  country 
than  in  any  other.  The  imagination  of  the  youthful 


16  KONINGSMARKE. 

American  reader  is  early  inflated  with  high- wrought 
delineations  of  the  splendours  and  the  refinements 
of  royal  and  noble  phantoms ;  and  the  books  from 
which  he  receives  his  first  impressions  prepare  him 
for  a  false  estimate  both  of  himself  and  others.  He 
becomes  accustomed  to  graduate  his  respect  to 
persons  by  the  standard  of  rank  and  title,  without 
regard  to  any  other  criterion. 

This  early  impression  remains  unimpaired  by 
subsequent  experience,  because  here  we  seldom 
have  an  opportunity  of  correcting  it,  by  comparing 
the  gorgeous  phantom  of  our  imagination  with  the 
real  being  we  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to 
regard  with  such  unqualified  admiration  at  a  dis 
tance.  Hence  it  is  that  we  are  too  much  accus 
tomed  to  consider  every  thing  said  or  done  by  the 
higher  orders  of  society,  such  as  kings,  princes, 
and  nobles,  as  perfectly  genteel,  and  all  that  ema 
nates  from  the  lower  orders,  as  necessarily  low  and 
vulgar.  For  this  reason  too,  it  is  absolutely  indis 
pensable  that  every  heroine  or  hero  of  romance, 
as  well  as  all  the  principal  actors,  should  be  of  a 
certain  rank,  in  order  to  escape  the  imputation  of 
vulgarity,  than  which  nothing  is  more  fatal  to  an 
author  and  his  book.  Unfortunately  for  us  repub 
lican  writers,  we  have  neither  kings  or  nobility  to 
render  our  literature  genteel,  except  among  the 
Indians,  and  such  have  been  the  disadvantages  of 
this  deficiency,  that  many  of  our  young  men  are 
actually  obliged  to  go  abroad  to  acquire  a  little 


KONINGSMARKE.  17 

smattering  of  gentility.  Until  we  can  supply  our 
own  domestic  product  of  this  sort,  our  less  fortunate 
writers  must  be  content  to  remain  subject  to  the 
imputation  of  vulgarity,  unless  some  other  stand 
ard  can  be  found  by  which  to  regulate  our  opinions. 

That  there  is  such  a  standard,  and  that  it  is  the 
only  true  one,  is,  we  think,  quite  incontrovertible. 
If  we  come  fairly  to  put  the  matter  to  the  test,  it 
will  be  found  after  all,  that  the  essence  of  vulgarity 
consists  more  or  less  in  its  approximation  to  what 
is  vicious.  It  is,  in  fact,  much  more  nearly  allied 
to  morals,  than  to  manners.  Whatever  partakes 
of  vice,  or  whatever  leads  the  imagination  by  a  nat 
ural  connexion,  towards  impressions  allied  to  it,  is 
in  a  similar  degree  low  and  vulgar,  without  any 
reference  to  rank,  wealth,  or  station. 

Thus  when  we  read  in  the  memoirs  of  the  Mar 
garine  of  Bareith,  of  a  King  of  Prussia  getting 
drunk,  and  beating  his  wife  and  daughter,  whatever 
may  be  the  rank  of  the  parties,  the  scene  is  as  es 
sentially  vulgar  and  indecent,  as  if  it  were  laid  in 
the  kitchen  of  a  country  tavern.  So  also  when, 
as  in  a  late  popular  work  of  a  justly  celebrated 
author,  the  reader  is  introduced  to  a  court,  and 
presented  with  pictures  the  most  immoral  and 
corrupt;  with  titled  pimps  and  prostitute  duch 
esses  ;  with  a  parent  seeking  to  compass  the  pur 
poses  of  revenge,  by  placing  an  only  daughter  in 
the  power  of  a  systematic  seducer  and  voluptuary 

— not  the  rank  of  the  actors,  the  splendours  of  a 
VOL.  ii — c  2 


18  KONINGSMARKE. 

court,  nor  the  false  glitter  thrown  around  the  whole, 
by  the  genius  of  the  writer,  can  rescue  the  picture 
from  the  imputation  of  sheer  vulgarity. 

What  is  called  the  world  of  fashion,  for  the  most 
part,  presents  little  variety.  The  dress,  the  man 
ners,  modes  of  speech,  and  of  existence,  being  all 
formed  on  the  same  model,  exhibit  so  little  variety 
of  character,  and  so  circumscribed  a  field  for  a 
writer,  that  he  is  obliged  to  resort  to  other  sources 
for  his  materials,  if  he  wishes  to  avoid  the  impu 
tation  of  dulness  and  uniformity.  A  fashionable 
lady,  or  a  standard  dandy,  represents  the  whole 
species,  and  it  is  only  among  that  class  of  human 
beings,  who  are  free  from  the  restraints  of  estab 
lished  manners  and  conventional  modes  of  speech, 
that  we  can  find  sufficient  variety  of  humour  and 
character  to  give  zest  to  a  work  of  fiction. 

It  is  for  this  reason,  and  not  from  any  intrinsic 
difficulty  in  delineating  fashionable  life,  or  any  lean 
ing  towards  vulgarity,  that  the  best  delineators  of 
life  and  manners,  those  who  have  been  most  suc 
cessful  in  establishing  a  wide  spread  and  lasting 
reputation,  have  sought  a  large  portion  of  their 
materials  among  the  middle  and  lower  classes  of 
mankind.  It  is  there  that  all  the  varieties  of  hu 
man  character  are  seen,  as  it  were,  displayed 
without  hypocrisy,  and  free  from  the  restraints  of 
an  inexorable  code  of  fashion,  that  while  it  makes 
actors  of  all,  obliges  them  at  the  same  time  to 
appear  all  in  the  same  character.  We  do  not 


KONINGSMARKE.  19 

hesitate  to  say,  that  the  absurd  squeamishness,  so 
common  now-a-days,  which,  while  it  shrinks  from 
vulgarity,  tolerates  vice  in  the  disguise  of  fashion, 
is  in  our  opinion  no  evidence  of  delicacy  or  refine 
ment  in  manners  or  in  morals.  The  most  corrupt 
state  of  society  is  that  in  which  people  are  con 
tent  to  "dwell  in  decencies  forever,"  where  every 
breach  of  the  decalogue  may  be  atoned  for  by 
outward  polish  and  outward  decorum,  and  where 
people  are  afraid  of  nothing  so  much  as  the  impu 
tation  of  not  being  genteel.  We  may  also  add, 
that  the  dullest  age  of  literature  is  that  in  which 
authors  are  more  apprehensive  of  being  called 
vulgar,  than  of  being  convicted  of  downright  stu 
pidity.  A  fashionable  book  is  very  apt  to  be  as 
dull  as  a  fashionable  party,  simply  because  neither 
of  them  have  any  approximation  to  nature. 


20  KONINGSMARKE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

"  Death !  what  is  it  ? 
It  may  be,  'tis — hum — 
It  may  be,  'tis  not  too." 

THE  Muskrat  and  Mud  Turtle  warriors  re 
turned  to  their  homes,  bringing  with  them  the  body 
of  one  of  their  chiefs,  who  had  died  of  his  wounds 
on  the  second  day  of  their  journey.  On  coming 
within  hearing  of  the  village,  they  uttered  the  death- 
howl,  as  was  their  custom,  to  signify  that  they  had 
lost  one  of  their  number.  This  howl  was  perfectly 
understood  by  the  wives  and  mothers  of  the  tribes, 
who  rushed  forth,  with  dismal  shrieks,  to  meet  the 
train,  each  one  not  knowing  but  that  she  had  lost 
a  son  or  a  husband.  The  body  of  the  chief  was 
then  placed  on  the  shoulders  of  four  of  the  most 
distinguished  warriors,  and  carried  in  procession 
to  the  village,  followed  by  the  women  and  old  men, 
the  former  tearing  their  hair  and  uttering  shrieks, 
that  echoed  in  the  recesses  of  the  forest.  The 
near  relations  of  the  deceased,  however,  followed 
in  profound  silence,  without  exhibiting  any  marks 
of  affliction,  it  being  considered  unworthy  of  the 
fallen  chief  for  his  kindred  to  weep  over  his  fate. 

They  dressed  the  corpse,  seated  it  on  a  mat,  in 
the  posture  to  which  the  warrior  was  most  accus 
tomed  when  alive,  and,  sitting  in  a  circle  around 


KONINGSMARKE.  21 

him,  pronounced  his  funeral  eulogy,  by  relating, 
one  by  one,  his  exploits  in  battle,  as  well  as  those 
of  his  ancestors.  When  these  were  finished,  they 
chanted  a  sort  of  funeral  hymn,  something  to  the 
following  effect,  as  nearly  as  it  can  be  rendered 
from  their  native  language  : 

Thou  art  here,  and  yet  thou  art  gone  ! 

Thou  look'st  as  thou  didst  before  ; 
Thou  seemest  a  man,  yet  art  none  ; 

Thou  art  gone,  to  return  no  more. 

Thou  art,  yet  hast  ceased  to  be ; 

Thy  form  and  thy  face  appear  ; 
Thou  hast  eyes,  yet  thou  canst  not  see  ; 

Thou  hast  ears,  yet  thou  canst  not  hear. 

Was  it  thou  that  talk'd  with  us  erewhile  ? 

Was  it  thou  that  went  with  us  to  fight  ? 
Was  it  thou  that  shared  battle  and  toil  ? 

Was  it  thou  that  wert  with  us  last  night  ? 

Yes  !  thou  art  here,  and  yet  art  away ; 

We  see  thee,  and  yet  thou  art  not; 
Thy  life  is  like  yesterday — 

And  nothing  remains  but  what's  nought. 

That  something  which  made  thee  alive, 
Where  is  it — what  was  it — where,  where  ? 

'Twas  a  spirit — that  still  must  survive 
In  the  stars,  or  the  sky,  or  the  air. 

To  that  spirit  these  honours  we  pay — 
That  spirit  which  still  hears  us  mourn — 

That  something  which  ne'er  shall  decay, 
That  something  which  ne'er  shall  return. 

The  body  of  the  red  chief  was  then  carried  to 
a  hut  prepared  for  the  purpose,  where  it  remained 


22  KONUNGSMARKE. 

twenty-four  hours,  during  which  time  the  tribes 
were  engaged  in  feasting  and  dancing.  It  was 
then  carried  to  the  grave,  and  buried,  sitting  upright, 
with  the  face  to  the  rising  sun.  The  friends  and 
relatives  threw  the  arms  of  the  dead  warrior  into 
the  grave,  with  pipes,  tobacco,  corn,  and  some 
pieces  of  wampum.  The  grave  was  then  closed, 
and  the  name  of  the  deceased,  from  that  time,  never 
uttered  by  either  his  relatives  or  friends. 

During  the  absence  of  Koningsmarke  on  the  war 
expedition,  Christina  and  the  Indian  maid  did  little 
else  but  ponder  upon  the  dangers  to  which  he  was 
exposed,  and  weep.  They  still  continued  to  love 
each  other,  although  the  secret  consciousness  of 
rivalry,  that  gradually  arose  in  the  bosom  of  each, 
prompted  them  to  seek  in  separate  solitudes  the 
indulgence  of  their  feelings.  At  times,  Aouetti, 
after  an  absence  of  several  hours,  during  which 
she  wandered  in  the  woods,  or  along  the  bank  of 
the  river,  would  return  and  weep  on  the  bosom  of 
Christina.  "  I  love  you,"  she  would  say — "  I  love 
you ;  but  I  know  that  you  will  be  the  cause  of 
my  unhappiness.  Sometime  or  other  you  will  go 
home,  and  he  will  follow  you.  I  shall  then  be  left 
alone  ;  I  shall  lose  my  love,  and  there  will  be  none 
left  even  to  pity  me."  Christina,  safe  in  the  con 
sciousness  of  her  love  being  amply  returned,  could 
afford  to  pity  her  rival ;  and  she  did  pity  her,  al 
though  she  could  not  help  feeling  a  certain  awk 
ward  sensation,  that  sometimes  caused  her  to  re- 


KONINGSMARKE.  23 

turn  the  caresses  of  the  Indian  maid  with  a  cold 
ness  that  did  not  always  escape  her  notice.  "  I  tire 
you,"  would  Aouetti  exclaim,  and  retire  to  weep, 
and  sing  her  melancholy  songs. 

How  long  the  mutual  friendship  of  these  two 
innocent  girls  would  have  continued  to  withstand 
the  jealousies  of  love,  it  is  impossible  to  tell,  for 
now  a  more  formidable  rival  announced  herself, 
and  diverted  their  mutual  fears  to  one  object.  The 
Indian  widow,  who  had  saved  the  life  of  Konings- 
marke  by  claiming  him  as  her  slave,  being  smitten 
with  the  relation  of  his  prowess  in  the  late  battle, 
and  his  desperate  encounter  with  the  two  Indians, 
made  known  to  the  chiefs  and  sages  her  intention 
of  choosing  him  for  a  husband,  in  the  room  of  the 
one  she  had  lost.  This  proposal  was  received 
with  approbation  by  all,  and  preparations  were 
made  accordingly  to  celebrate  the  wedding  with 
great  pomp. 

This  news  came  like  cold  steel  to  the  hearts  of 
the  two  young  women,  who  could  now  fully  sym 
pathize  with  each  other.  "  We  shall  now  mourn 
together,"  exclaimed  Aouetti ;  "  we  shall  both  be 
wretched.  Let  us  never  part."  Koningsmarke, 
however  disinclined  to  this  match,  knew  that  if  he 
discovered  any  unwillingness,  the  insult  would  be 
felt  by  all  the  tribe,  and  resented  with  the  most  in 
flexible  severity.  He  therefore  appeared  highly 
sensible  of  the  happiness  and  honour  that  awaited 
him,  resolving,  at  the  same  time,  to  lose  not  a  mo- 


24  KONINGSMARKE. 

merit  in  concerting  with  Christina  the  means  of 
immediate  escape.  Watching  an  opportunity, 
while  she  was  taking  a  solitary  walk,  and  when  she 
was  out  of  the  reach  of  observation,  he  met  her, 
shedding  tears  alone  by  the  side  of  the  stream. 

"  Christina,  why  do  you  weep  ?"  exclaimed  the 
youth.  Christina  started,  and  hastily  wiped  her 
eyes. 

"  I  have  lost  my  home,  my  father,  and  all  that  I 
loved,  or  that  loved  me.  They  have  forgotten  me 
too,  or  they  would,  ere  this,  have  sought  me  until 
I  was  found.  I  shall  never  see  them  again.  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  I  weep  ?" 

Koningsmarke  sat  down  by  her  side,  took  her 
hand,  and  kissed  it.  "  Thou  hast  yet  one  friend 
who  will  never  desert  thee.  I  have  been  as  the 
son  of  thy  poor  father ;  I  will  be  as  the  brother  of 
his  child;  dearer  and  nearer  than  a  brother,  if 
thou  wilt  give  me  leave." 

"  Nearer  and  dearer  thou  canst  not  be,"  replied 
the  gentle  maid,  withdrawing  her  hand.  "  The 
husband  of  another  can  be  no  nearer  to  me  than  a 
brother.  Thou  wilt  become  a  savage  in  thy  heart, 
and  the  parent  of  savages." 

"  Nay,  give  me  thy  hand,"  he  replied  ;  "  I  swear 
by  the  gratitude  I  owe  thy  parent,  by  the  love  I 
bear  to  thee,  by  all  my  hopes  here  and  beyond  the 
grave,  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee." 

"  But  thou  wilt  wed  with  another ;  and — and" — 


KONINGSMARKE.  25 

Here  she  hid  her  face  with  her  hands,  and  wept  on 
his  shoulder. 

"  Hear  me,  Christina,"  cried  the  youth,  "  Were 
the  stake  and  the  fagot  the  alternative,  as  I  have 
reason  to  believe  they  are,  I  would  not  wed  any 
but  thee.  I  sought  you  to  tell  you  so — to  concert 
means  for  our  escape — to  place  all  on  one  cast — 
to  live  for  thee,  or  to  die  with  thee.  Barest  thou 
flee  with  me  to-night,  and  risk  the  chance  of  being 
retaken  and  tortured  at  the  stake  ?" 

"  I  can  dare  all,"  replied  Christina,  "  but  only  to 
see  thee  in  the  arms  of  another." 

Koningsmarke  held  her  to  his  breast  for  a  mo 
ment,  with  a  feeling  of  unutterable  tenderness  and 
gratitude,  and  then  proceeded  to  explain  his  plan 
for  escaping.  By  occasionally  questioning  the 
savages,  he  had,  without  exciting  their  suspicions, 
gained  sufficient  information,  as  he  supposed,  to 
enable  him  to  shape  his  course,  so  as  to  strike  the 
Delaware  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  Elsing- 
burgh  and  Coaquanock.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan, 
it  was  arranged,  that,  while  the  Indians  were  feast 
ing  and  carousing,  as  they  proposed  to  do  that 
night,  in  honour  of  his  approaching  nuptials,  they 
should,  separately,  as  soon  as  the  savages  became 
intoxicated,  as  was  their  custom,  repair  to  the  spot 
where  they  now  sat,  and  from  thence  pursue  the 
route  that  Koningsmarke  supposed  would  lead 
them  the  nearest  way  home. 

VOL,    II D 


26  KONINGSMARKE. 

"  Christina,"  said  the  youth,  solemnly,  "  I  cannot 
disguise  from  thee  the  toils  thou  wilt  be  obliged  to 
sustain,  and  the  imminent  danger  of  our  being  over 
taken,  and  tortured  to  death  by  slow  degrees.  To 
me  all  this  is  nothing — but  for  thee — O  God  ! — to 
see  thy  snow-white  skin  blackened  in  the  fire — 
thy  beauteous  limbs  the  sport  of  barbarous  cruelty 
• — thy  precious  blood — thy  life,  dearer  than  all  this 
earth — dearer  than  Heaven  itself — wasting — wast 
ing  away,  by  drops — breath  by  breath  !  Think  ere 
thou  shalt  decide." 

"If,"  said  Christina,  "the  fatigue  should  bear 
hard  upon  me,  I  will  call  to  my  aid  the  hope  that 
I  shall  meet  my  poor  father  ere  long.  If  we  are 
overtaken,  I  will  try  not  to  despair ;  and  if  we  are 
placed  together  at  the  stake,  I  will  endeavour  to 
support  the  torture,  by  thy  example,  and  God's 
help." 

"  Let  us  part,  then,  at  once,"  replied  the  youth  ; 
"  and  Heaven  prosper  us  this  night.  Farewell. 
Should  you  chance  to  come  hither  before  me,  wait, 
and  be  not  afraid." 

He  kissed  her  cheek,  and  they  returned,  sepa 
rately  and  at  different  times,  to  the  village,  where, 
luckily,  owing  to  the  preparations  for  the  feast, 
which  occupied  the  attention  of  all,  their  absence 
had  not  been  noticed. 


KONINGSMARKE.  27 


CHAPTER  III. 

<«  But  he  got  down  on  t'other  side, 

And  then  they  couldn't  find  him; 
He  ran  fourteen  miles  in  fifteen  days, 
And  never  look'd  behind  him." 

Mother  Goose's  Melodies, 

THE  night  sat  in  with  rout  and  revelry,  with 
drinking,  feasting,  dancing,  and  shouts,  that  rent 
the  solitudes  of  the  forest,  and  silenced  the  very 
howlings  of  its  hungry  tenants.  On  these  occasions 
it  is  usual  to  appoint  persons  to  guard  the  arms  of 
the  warriors,  and  keep  themselves  sober,  lest,  in  the 
mad  excesses  of  drunkenness,  the  barbarous  bac 
chanals  should  get  possession  of  them,  and  maim  or 
murder  one  another.  Koningsmarke,  at  his  par 
ticular  request,  was  appointed  to  this  station,  and 
Lob  Dotterel,  much  against  the  wishes  of  the 
youth,  appointed  his  assistant.  The  latter  part  of 
this  arrangement  embarrassed  Koningsmarke  not 
a  little,  since  the  company  of  the  high  constable 
of  Elsingburgh  rendered  his  secret  departure  much 
more  difficult,  and  he  did  not  dare  to  associate  him 
in  his  plan  of  escape,  for  fear  of  being  betrayed. 

As  the  night  waned  away,  the  scene  of  savage 
debauchery  became  more  disgusting  and  horrible, 
Some  were  howling  an  unintelligible  jargon,  some 
rolling  upon  the  earth  like  drunken  swine,  and 
others  venting  their  excited  passions  in  struggles. 


28  KONINGSARMKE. 

in  which  the  madness  of  rage  was  contrasted  with 
the  imbecility  of  beastly  intoxication.  By  degrees, 
one  after  another,  they  sunk  into  a  deep  sleep,  and 
all  remained  quiet.  Now  was  the  eventful  hour  ; 
but  the  presence  of  Lob  Dotterel,  whom  Konings- 
marke  had  vainly  attempted  to  persuade  to  retire, 
and  leave  him  to  watch  alone,  restrained  his  de 
parture.  At  length  his  patience  became  exhausted, 
and,  desiring  that  trusty  officer  to  await  his  return 
a  few  moments,  he  seized  a  gun,  a  tomahawk,  and 
a  knife,  having  previously  provided  himself  with 
ammunition,  and  hastily  departed. 

Approaching  the  appointed  spot,  his  heart  beat 
with  uncontrollable  apprehension  at  not  seeing 
Christina.  He  pronounced  her  name,  and  he  saw 
her  white  figure  glide  from  behind  a  tree.  "  I 
thought  you  would  never  come,"  said  the  trembling 
girl,  as  she  panted  in  his  arms. 

"  To  hold  thee  thus,"  whispered  Koningsmarke, 
"  is  a  happiness  I  could  wish  to  last  for  ever  ;  but 
there  is  not  a  moment  to  be  lost ;  let  us  away,  and 
God  be  our  guide." 

They  struck  into  the  forest,  in  the  direction 
marked  out  by  the  Long  Finne,  and  had  proceeded 
about  half  a  mile,  when  they  thought  they  heard 
footsteps  behind  them. 

"  We  are  pursued,"  cried  Christina — "  We  are 
lost." 

"  Hush !"  whispered  the  youth — "  perhaps  it  is 
only  some  wild  animal." 


KONINGSMARKE.  29 

"  Heaven  grant  it  may  be,"  said  Christina ;  "the 
wolf  or  the  bear  would  be  more  welcome  than 
man." 

They  stopped  and  listened  in  breathless  anxiety. 
Some  one  was  heard  trampling  slowly  through  the 
bushes,  but  whether  man  or  beast  could  not  be 
discerned,  as  the  moon  had  just  gone  behind  a 
cloud.  Presently  it  emerged,  and  they  could  see 
the  figure  of  a  man,  at  a  little  distance,  watching 
them. 

"  He  must  be  quieted,"  cried  Koningsmarke, 
and  grasping  his  gun,  advanced  a  few  steps 
towards  the  figure. 

"  Oh  don't  kill  him,"  cried  Christina  ;  "  perhaps 
it  is  some  friend." 

"  I  will  know  soon,"  he  replied.  "  Whoever  you 
are,  speak,  or  die." 

"  A  friend,"  exclaimed  the  figure,  in  the  well- 
known  voice  of  honest  Lob  Dotterel.  "  I  watched 
you,"  said  the  high  constable,  coming  up,  "  for  I 
observed  you  had  something  in  hand.  You  would 
not  trust  me — but  I  will  be  true  as  steel.  I  mean 
to  go  with  you,  and  share  your  fate,  be  it  what  it 
may." 

"  Thou  art  right  welcome,  Lob,"  quoth  the  Long 
Finne — "  but  every  moment  is  a  life  to  one  or  all 
of  us.  Let  us  on." 

Alternately  assisting,  supporting,  and  sometimes 
carrying  Christina,  they  passed  rapidly  on  their 
way,  and,  by  the  dawn  of  the  morning,  had  pro- 

VOL.  II D  2 


30  KONINGSMARKE. 

ceeded  several  miles,  without  meeting  with  any 
interruption,  except  what  nature  presented.  Chris 
tina  complained  of  fatigue,  and  it  was  agreed  to 
rest  a  little  while,  as  they  supposed  the  savages 
would  sleep  late  that  morning,  from  the  effects  of 
the  night's  debauchery.  They  accordingly  sat 
down,  and  partook  of  some  dried  venison,  with 
which  Koningsmarke  had  supplied  himself.  In  a 
few  minutes  they  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  and, 
an  instant  after,  a  wounded  deer  bounded  past 
them,  and  fell  dead  within  a  few  yards  of  where 
they  sat.  Koningsmarke  and  the  high  constable 
started  on  their  feet  at  once,  and  stood  ready  for 
what  might  follow.  A  few  moments  elapsed  in 
this  state  of  suspense,  when  they  observed  two 
Indians,  armed  with  guns,  approaching  among  the 
trees.  Quick  as  lightning,  on  observing  the  two 
white  men,  they  darted  each  behind  a  separate 
tree,  and,  in  almost  as  little  time,  the  others  did 
the  like,  Koningsmarke  snatching  Christina,  and 
placing  her  behind  him,  under  cover  of  the  tree. 

Each  party  now  remained,  writh  their  guns 
cocked,  watching  till  the  exposure  of  some  part  of 
the  body  of  an  adversary  should  give  them  an 
opportunity  of  firing  with  effect.  It  has  been 
observed  as  a  characteristic  of  the  Indians,  that 
they  never  willingly  come  to  a  personal  contest 
with  a  white  man,  or  engage,  in  fact,  in  any  way, 
if  they  can  avoid  it,  till  some  advantage  presents 
itself.  In  this  state  of  awful  suspense,  Konings- 


KONINGSMARKE.  31 

marke  seized  an  opportunity  to  motion  to  the  high 
constable  to  follow  his  example.  He  then  took  off 
his  hat,  and  waved  it,  as  sportsmen  do  when  they 
wish  to  decoy  a  duck,  alternately  holding  it  out 
from  behind  the  tree,  and  snatching  it  back  again. 
His  example  was  promptly  followed  by  Lob,  with 
his  buffalo  cap.  In  the  dense  obscurity  of  morning, 
in  a  deep  forest,  the  two  Indians  were  deceived 
by  this  stratagem,  and,  believing  it  to  be  their  an 
tagonists  thus  peeping  from  behind  their  covert, 
fired  at  the  same  instant.  Both  hat  and  cap  fell 
to  the  ground,  and  the  two  Indians  rushed  out,  to 
use  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife  on  their  fallen 
foes.  As  they  came  on  heedlessly,  the  two  white 
men  took  a  deliberate  aim,  one  at  each,  and  fired. 
The  foremost  fell  dead ;  the  other  bounded  into  the 
woods,  uttering  the  howl  of  pain  and  baffled  rage, 
and  disappeared. 

Instantly  loading  their  guns,  they  proceeded  on 
their  journey,  with  the  increased  apprehension, 
arising  from  the  possibility  that  the  wounded  savage 
might  reach  the  village,  and  alarm  the  warriors 
into  immediate  pursuit.  In  passing  by  the  dead 
body  of  the  savage,  Christina,  influenced  and  im 
pelled  by  that  fascination  which  horror  exercises 
over  the  human  mind,  involuntarily  turned  to  look 
at  it,  and  recognised  the  features  of  Aouetti's 
brother,  who  she  now  recollected  had  been  out 
several  days  on  a  hunting  expedition.  "  Poor 
Aouetti !"  she  mentally  exclaimed,  "  I  was  born  to 


32  KONINGSMARKE 

be  your  bane" — and  Christina  at  that  moment  for 
got  her  dangers,  in  thinking  on  the  sufferings  of  her 
kind-hearted  sister. 

Little  occurred  during  the  rest  of  the  day,  ex 
cept  increasing  toils  and  difficulties  in  the  march, 
accompanied  by  increasing  weariness.  They  made 
a  sort  of  litter  of  the  branches,  and,  from  time  to 
time,  carried  the  weary  girl  upon  their  shoulders. 
But  their  progress,  slow  at  first,  became  more  slow 
as  the  day  wore  away,  so  that  night  overtook  them 
before  they  had  completed  twenty  miles,  accord 
ing  to  their  best  computation.  The  apprehension 
of  pursuit,  and  the  danger  of  being  overtaken,  now 
yielded  to  the  demands  of  nature,  and  they  were 
forced  to  take  some  rest.  They  formed  a  rude 
shelter,  with  the  bark  and  branches  of  trees  for 
Christina,  while  they  laid  down,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  entrance.  Weariness  soon  closed  their  eyes, 
in  spite  of  every  motive  for  wakefulness.  They 
slept  for  several  hours,  and,  probably,  would  have 
slept  till  morning,  had  they  not  been  roused  by  the 
knell  of  death.  Starting  up,  the  two  white  men 
found  themselves,  at  the  same  instant,  seized  arid 
pinioned,  with  their  hands  behind  their  backs, 
before  they  could  possibly  make  any  resistance. 

The  wretched  Christina,  whom  the  sight  of  the 
savage  group,  and  the  sound  of  their  dismal  yell, 
had  struck  into  a  temporary  insensibility  to  all 
around  her,  was  seized,  and,  sometimes  dragged, 
sometimes  carried,  forced  along  with  her  unfortu- 


KONINGSMARKE.  33 

nate  companions,  towards  the  village  from  whence 
they  had  attempted  to  escape.  They  passed  by 
the  spot  where  the  affray  of  the  morning  took  place, 
and  pointing  to  the  dead  body  of  the  chief,  whirled 
their  tomahawks  in  the  air,  over  the  heads  of  the 
two  prisoners,  giving  them  to  understand  at  the 
same  time,  they  did  not  sacrifice  them  on  the  spot, 
because  they  meant  to  torture  them  to  death. 
Taking  up  the  dead  body,  they  then  marched  in 
procession  to  the  village,  chanting  their  death  song 
by  the  way. 


34:  KONINGSMARKE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  Theye  tyed  hymme  toe  ye  fatale  tree, 

And  lyghted  uppe  ye  pyle, 
And  daunc'd  and  sunge  ryghte  merrilie, 
But  he  could'ent  rayse  a  smyle." 

ON  arriving  at  the  village,  the  procession  was 
met,  according  to  custom,  by  a  crowd  of  women 
and  children,  who,  amidst  yells  and  shrieks,  de 
nounced  the  most  bitter  imprecations  upon  the 
wretched  fugitives,  and  were  with  difficulty  pre 
vented  from  putting  them  to  instant  death.  Among 
the  most  violent  of  these,  were  the  widow  whom 
Koningsmarke  was  to  have  married,  and  the  mother 
of  Aouetti ;  the  one  maddened  with  jealous  rage, 
the  other,  by  the  wild,  unrestrained  feelings  of  a 
savage  mother,  who  had  lost  her  only  son.  The 
Indian  maid  did  not  appear  ;  whether  detained  by 
her  own  feelings,  or  from  some  other  cause,  we 
cannot  tell. 

The  savages,  however  wild,  and  free  from  the 
ordinary  restraints  of  civilized  society,  had  yet 
some  forms  of  justice.  A  council  of  the  chiefs 
and  old  men  was  convened  immediately,  and  the 
case  of  the  three  captives  taken  into  consideration. 
After  a  grave  debate,  it  was  unanimously  decided, 
that  Koningsmarke  and  Lob  Dotterel,  having  both 
been  solemnly  adopted  into  the  tribe,  and  received 


KONINGSMARKE.  35 

as  brothers — having  deserted  them,  and,  in  so  do 
ing,  taken  the  life  of  one  of  their  bravest  chiefs, 
should  perish  by  the  torture  that  very  day.  With 
respect  to  the  poor  white  maid,  there  was  at  first 
some  doubts  as  to  the  degree  of  her  participation 
in  the  guilt  of  her  companions.  While  balancing 
on  her  fate,  Aouetti  rushed  into  the  council  room, 
with  dishevelled  hair,  and  frantic  gestures.  She 
threw  herself,  one  by  one,  at  the  feet  of  the  old 
men,  embraced  their  knees,  and  claimed  of  them 
the  pardon  of  her  adopted  sister.  "  She  is  inno 
cent,"  cried  the  gentle  maid  ;  "  she  only  sought  to 
join  her  father.  Which  of  you  would  blame  your 
daughter  if  she  tried  to  escape  from  the  white  men, 
and  come  to  you  ?  I  have  lost  my  only  brother, 
and  I  am  about  to  lose — but  spare  me  my  sister, 
that  I  may  have  some  one  to  love." 

The  tears  and  supplications  of  the  Indian  maid 
fell  upon  the  hard  hearts  of  the  old  men,  and  with 
some  difficulty,  they  consented  that  Christina  should 
be  given  in  charge  to  her  adopted  sister.  The 
moment  Aouetti  heard  their  decision,  she  ran,  with 
the  lightness  of  a  deer,  to  the  hut  where  the  three 
captives  were  confined,  and,  making  her  way  in, 
threw  herself  into  the  arms  of  her  poor  Mimi. 

"  Thou  art  safe — thou  art  spared,  my  sister," 
she  exclaimed.  "And  our  friends?" — panted 
Christina,  in  almost  unintelligible  accents. 

The  Indian  maid,  as  if  struck  with  a  sudden 
pang  of  recollection,  slowly  turned,  looked  at  Kon- 


36  KONINGSMARKE. 

ingsmarke,  and  then  hid  her  face  in  the  bosom  of 
Christina.  So  expressive  was  her  look  and  action, 
that  each  of  the  wretched  prisoners  understood 
what  she  could  not  speak. 

"  'T  is  well,"  said  Koningsmarke  ;  "  a  life  of 
wandering,  wretchedness  and  poverty,  in  the  old 
world,  is  now  to  be  brought  to  a  miserable  end  in 
the  new.  For  myself — but  you,  Oh !  you,  my  poor 
Christina,  what  will  become  of  you  ?  Thy  pure 
and  innocent  life  is  redeemed ;  but  who  shall  re 
deem  thy  body  from  this  woful  captivity  ?  " 

"Death,"  said  Christina.  "Dost  thou  think  I 
can  know  of  thy  tortures — of  the  furies  tearing 
thy  flesh — of  the  flaming  brands  being  thrust  into 
thy  body — the  coals — Oh  God  ! — the  live  coals 
being  sprinkled  on  thy  bare  head,  till  madness,  in 
sensibility,  and  death  relieve  thee — dost  thou  think 
I  can  bear  all  this,  and  live  ?  No,  no — I  shall  die, 
if  not  with  thee,  but  a  little  while  after  thee." 

"  But  live,  I  beseech  thee,  Christina,"  said  Kon 
ingsmarke,  "  for  the  sake  of  thy  father,  who" — 

"  My  father  !  I  shall  never  see  him  more.  Per 
haps  ere  this  his  gray  hairs  have  been  brought  in 
sorrow  to  the  grave.  Perhaps — but  it  matters 
little  to  him  or  me.  When  you  are  gone,  who 
shall  guide  me  homeward  ?  who  risk  his  life  to  re 
store  me  to  a  parent,  even  if  he  lives  ?  No,  no — 
I  shall  never  see  him  more  ?  I  have  nothing  to 
live  for,  since  you  are  lost  to  me." 

"  My  hours  are  numbered,"  replied  Konings- 


KONINGSMARKE.  37 

marke,  as  he  heard  a  distant  shout — "  Come  hither, 
Christina — nearer — yet  nearer.  My  arms  are  pin 
ioned,"  continued  he,  with  a  melancholy  smile — 
"  you  need  not  fear  me."  She  approached,  and 
leaned  her  head  on  his  shoulder. 

"  God  bless  thee,  my  dear  one,  for  never  blessing 
fell  upon  a  more  innocent  head  than  thine.  In  this 
last  hour,  tell  me  one  thing.  Had  we  returned  to 
Elsingburgh  in  safety  together,  wouldst  thou  have 
joined  thy  fate  with  mine  in  the  presence  of  Heaven  ? 
wouldst  thou  have  tried  to  forget  the  long-past 
time,  and  lived  only  in  the  future  ? " 

"  In  the  presence  of  Heaven,  I  would,"  replied 
Christina — "  I  would,  had  the  shade  of  my  mother 
haunted  our  bridal  bed.  My  love  and  my  grati 
tude  should  have  conquered  my  remembrance  of 
the  errors  of  thy  youth." 

"  Then  seal  it  with  a  last  kiss ;  and  now,  come 
what  will,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  I  stand  prepared 
for  whatsoever  may  happen.  A  little  while,  and 
we  shall  meet  again — or  I  have  been  dreaming  all 
my  life." 

"Aouetti,"  continued  he,  to  the  Indian  maid,  who 
had  stood  in  a  distant  corner,  with  her  face  from 
them,  weeping — "  Aouetti,  come  hither." 

She  approached.  "  Take  your  sister's  hand, 
and  promise  to  be  kind  to  her  when  I  am  gone." 

The  Indian  maid  shook  her  head.  "  What !  will 
you  not  promise  me  this,  Aouetti  ?  " 

"  She  must  be  kind  to  me,"  replied  the  Indian 
VOL.  ii — E 


38  KONINGSMARKE. 

maid,  "  for  I  shall  be  more  wretched  than  Mimi. 
She  will  remember  thy  love,  but  I  shall  only  re 
member  thy  death." 

"  But  you  will  promise  to  be  kind  to  her  ?  "  re 
peated  Koningsmarke. 

"  Yes,  yes,  if  I  can  remember  any  one  but  thee 
and  myself,"  said  Aouetti. 

At  that  moment  the  door  flew  open  with  vio 
lence,  and  a  crowd  rushed  in.  They  seized  Kon 
ingsmarke  and  the  poor  high  constable,  who,  ever 
since  his  recapture,  had  been  in  a  sort  of  stupor, 
and  hurried  them  towards  the  river  side,  where, 
on  a  little  level  greensward,  were  placed  two 
stakes,  around  which,  at  a  distance  of  three  or  four 
paces,  were  placed  piles  of  wood.  In  their  pro 
gress  to  the  funeral  pyres,  Koningsmarke  and  Lob 
Dotterel  were  harassed  and  beaten  with  sticks 
by  the  women  and  boys,  who  vented  their  rage 
in  every  possible  variety  of  injury  and  insult. 
Among  these,  the  widow,  whose  affections  had 
been  treated  with  such  contemptuous  ingratitude, 
was  the  most  conspicuous.  With  dishevelled  hair, 
and  ferocious  gestures,  she  followed  him  step  by 
step,  taunting  him  with  the  beauties  of  his  white 
woman,  alarming  his  fears  by  threats  of  terrible 
Vengeance  on  poor  Christina,  and  triumphing  in  the 
prospect  of  his  approaching  tortures. 

"  Look  !"  cried  the  virago  ;  "  yonder  is  the  stake 
and  the  pile  ;  I  shall  hear  thee  groan — I  shall  see 
the  hot  brands,  the  live  coals  scorch  thee — I  shall 


KONINGSMARKE  39 

see  the  knife  and  the  tomahawk  enter  thy  flesh — 
I  shall  see  thy  limbs  tremble  like  a  woman — and  I 
shall  laugh,  when  the  drops  of  agony  roll  down  thy 
forehead." 

Arrived  at  the  stake,  they  proceeded  to  strip  the 
two  victims,  with  the  exception  of  their  waists,  and 
to  paint  them  black  with  charcoal  and  grease. 
They  were  then  fastened  to  the  stake,  and,  all 
being  ready,  the  horrible  ceremony  was  about  to 
begin,  when  Aouetti  came  running  franticly  to  the 
spot.  Christina  had  sunk  into  a  temporary  insen 
sibility,  when  the  crowd  carried  ofFKoningsmarke, 
and,  on  coming  to  herself,  besought  Aouetti  to  make 
one  last  effort  to  reprieve  the  unfortunate  youth. 

"  It  is  too  late  now,"  said  the  Indian  maid — "  'tis 
too  late  ;  they  will  spurn  me  ;  they  will  beat  me 
away.  They  are  mad  with  rage  and  cruelty." 

"  Then  I  will  go,"  hastily  exclaimed  Christina, 
starting  up  at  the  same  time.  "  Perhaps  they  will 
pity  my  sorrows." 

"  Pity  !"  said  Aouetti,  despondingly — "  Pity  ! 
they  know  it  not.  If  you  seek  to  stop  them,  they 
will  tear  you  to  pieces." 

"  No  matter — no  matter — my  heart  is  torn  to 
pieces  already.  Let  them  tear  my  flesh,  I  care 
not.  Come,  come — 'twill  be  too  late." 

"'Tis  too  late  already — the  smoke  begins  to 
rise — nothing  can  save  him  now." 

"  But,  we  can  die  too.  Let  us  go — let  us  go,  oj 
I  shall  run  mad," 


40  KONINGSMARKE. 

"  He  killed  my  brother,  and  he  loves  not  me," 
said  Aouetti ;  "  yet  I  will  make  one  more  effort, 
even  though  they  do  spurn  me.  Stay  here,  my 
sister,  and  I  will  soon  return."  Christina  had 
again  sunk  into  a  temporary  insensibility,  which 
prevented  her  following. 

"As  the  Indian  maid  approached,  she  called  upon 
them  to  stay  a  moment,  ere  they  lighted  the  piles. 
The  noise  was  hushed,  by  the  command  of  some 
of  the  sages  who  were  presiding  at  this  solemn 
ceremony,  for  so  it  was  reckoned  by  the  Indians. 
Aouetti  then  urged  every  motive  she  could  think  of, 
to  induce  them  to  spare  the  two  victims.  She  stated 
the  rewards  that  would  be  given,  if  they  carried 
them  to  the  Big  Hats  at  Coaquanock,  and  the  ter 
rible  vengeance  the  white  men  would  take,  when 
they  heard  of  the  sacrifice  of  their  brothers. 

"  If  you  spare  them,"  said  she,  "  their  friends 
will  ransom  them  with  great  kegs  of  spirits,  with 
tobacco,  pipes,  powder,  shot,  and  every  thing  you 
want.  If  you  put  them  to  death,  the  white  men 
will  find  you  out  one  day  or  other,  and  then  wo  to 
the  red  men  of  the  forest — wo  to  their  wives  and 
their  children — to  themselves  and  their  posterity. 
Every  drop  of  blood  you  shed  this  day,  I  prophesy, 
will  be  repaid  with  rivers  of  blood.  Spare  these 
white  men,  and  let  the  tall  youth  be  unto  me  the 
brother  I  have  lost." 

"  Thou  meanest  a  husband,"  exclaimed  the  In 
dian  widow,  who  had  listened  with  horrible  impa- 


KONINGSMARKE.  41 

tience  to  Aouetti's  arguments.  "  Thou  wouldst 
take  to  thy  arms  the  white  man  whose  hands  are 
red  with  the  blood  of  thine  only  brother  !  Shame 
of  thy  sex,  and  shame  of  the  Indian  name !  I 
know  thee  and  thy  wishes ;  I  have  watched  thy 
tears  and  thy  sighs,  thy  lonely  rambles,  thy  words, 
nay,  thy  very  looks.  I  demand  that  the  shade  of 
my  murdered  husband,  of  this  wretched  girl's 
murdered  brother,  of  all  those  who  have  fallen 
victims  to  the  cursed  arts  and  bloody  policy  of  the 
white  men,  be  appeased,  by  the  sacrifice  of  these 
deserters  from  their  adopted  tribe.  Else,  may  the 
wrath  of  the  Great  Spirit  confound  your  tribe,  and 
his  malediction  sweep  you  from  the  earth." 

These  words  were  answered  by  a  shout  of  ap 
probation  from  the  crowd,  and  followed  by  the 
acquiescence  of  the  old  men  present,  who  again 
decided  that  the  ceremony  should  proceed.  It 
was  now  one  of  those  bright,  clear,  still  afternoons, 
which  are  common  in  the  month  of  September, 
There  was  not  a  breath  of  air  to  curl  the  river,  or 
wave  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  nor  a  cloud  to  be 
seen  in  the  sky.  At  this  moment,  when  they  were 
about  to  set  fire  to  the  funeral  pile,  a  sudden  burst 
of  thunder,  loud  and  sharp,  arrested  them.  The 
eyes  of  all  were  turned  upwards,  with  a  sensation 
of  awe  and  surprise.  From  the  most  enlightened 
philosopher,  down  to  the  most  ignorant  savage  ; 
from  man,  to  the  birds  of  the  air,  the  beasts  of  the 
field,  it  would  seem  there  is  something  in  the  great 


42  KON1NGSMARKE. 

operations  of  nature,  such  as  tempests,  earthquakes, 
and  thunder  storms,  that  excites  the  apprehensions, 
or  at  least  the  awe,  of  both  reason  and  instinct. 
It  is  not  alone  a  fear  of  the  effects  of  these  terrible 
demonstrations  of  irresistible  power,  that  causes 
this  cowering  or  elevation  of  the  faculties ;  it  is, 
that  by  a  direct  operation,  the  mind  is  led  to  a  con 
templation  of  an  infinite  Being,  by  witnessing  the 
display  of  infinite  power. 

There  was  not  a  cloud  to  be  seen  in  the  sky, 
and  this  circumstance  occasioned  the  thunderclap  to 
have  the  appearance  of  something  altogether  super 
natural.  The  fiends  who  carried  the  lighted  brands 
to  fire  the  funeral  piles,  involuntarily  paused,  and 
the  Indian  maid,  taking  advantage  of  the  moment, 
cried  out : 

"  Hark !  the  Great  Spirit  bears  testimony  against 
this  deed.  You  heard  his  voice  in  the  air.  It  came 
not  from  the  clouds,  for  there  is  not  a  cloud  in  the 
skies.  It  is  the  great  Master  of  life  that  cries  out 
from  above  against  his  people  that  have  offended 
him.  In  his  name  I  command  you  to  stop — in  his 
name  I  command  you  to  spare  these  white  men !" 

The  figure  of  the  little  Indian  maid  appeared  to 
dilate  with  the  dignity  of  inspiration.  Her  eyes 
were  turned  in  eager  gaze  towards  the  heavens, 
and  she  seemed  as  if  she  actually  saw  the  visible 
form  of  the  Being  whose  judgment  she  had  invoked. 
The  frantic  rage  of  the  women  and  boys  yielded 
to  the  influence  of  a  superstitious  awe.  The  elders 


KONINGSMARKE.  43 

consulted  together  for  a  moment,  and  then  decided 
that  the  ceremony  should  be  suspended  till  they 
could  offer  a  sacrifice,  and  ascertain  the  will  of 
the  Great  Spirit.  The  crowd  then  dispersed,  dis 
appointed,  yet  not  daring  to  complain  ;  and  Kon- 
ingsmarke,  with  his  companion,  were  again  re 
manded  to  the  place  whence  they  came,  after  being 
washed,  and  permission  given  to  dress  themselves. 
Here  they  were  left,  guarded  without  by  sentinels, 
to  await  the  result  of  the  appeal  to  the  Great  Spirit. 


44  KONINGSMARKE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Farewell,  farewell,  my  bonny  maid, 

Whom  I  no  more  shall  see  ; 
I  die,  but  I  am  not  afraid, 

Because  I  die  for  thee. 

***** 

"  Then  came  Shadrach,  Meshech,  and  Abednego." 

CHRISTINA  passed  the  interval  between  the 
departure  and  return  of  the  Indian  maid,  in  that 
limbo  of  vague  and  indefinite  horror,  in  which  the 
human  mind,  as  it  were,  takes  refuge  from  its 
miseries.  The  events  of  the  two  preceding  days 
had  so  harassed  her  mind,  and  worn  down  her 
strength,  as  to  produce  that  state  of  moral  and 
physical  weakness,  which  diminishes  the  acuteness 
of  suffering,  by  its  very  incapacity  of  resistance. 
The  past,  the  present,  and  the  future,  offered  them 
selves  to  her  mind,  rather  as  horrible  visions  than 
as  cruel  realities  ;  and  when  she  saw  the  return  of 
Koningsmarke,  she  hardly  comprehended  the  fact, 
that  he  had  at  least  received  a  temporary  reprieve. 
By  degrees,  however,  the  agitation  of  her  mind 
yielded  to  an  irresistible  drowsiness,  and  supported 
in  the  arms  of  Aouetti,  she  sunk  into  a  long  and 
quiet  sleep,  from  which  she  awoke  perfectly  re 
stored  to  a  distinct  comprehension  of  her  present 
situation. 


KONINGSMARKE.  45 

In  the  meantime,  the  old  men  of  the  tribes  had 
called  their  principal  priest  or  conjurer,  to  take  the 
usual  measures  for  ascertaining  the  will  of  the 
Great  Spirit,  in  relation  to  the  fate  of  the  two  white 
men.  A  fire  was  kindled  on  the  greensward,  around 
which  Mackate  Ockola,  or  the  Black  Gown,  danced 
and  howled,  and  indulged  in  every  possible  contor 
tion  of  visage,  until  he  had  exhausted  his  strength, 
and  worked  up  his  mind  into  a  species  of  real,  or 
imaginary,  or  pretended  inspiration.  From  this 
he  gradually  fell  into  a  trance,  which  lasted  about 
half  an  hour,  during  which  time  the  assembled  old 
men  sat  in  a  profound  and  awful  silence.  At  length 
Mackate  Ockola  seemed  to  awake,  and  remained 
for  awhile,  staring  around,  as  if  unconscious  of 
his  situation.  Recovering  by  degrees,  he  started 
upon  his  feet,  and  cried  out  in  a  hollow  voice — 
"  I  have  seen  the  Great  Spirit.  He  came  to  me 
in  a  dream,  in  the  form  of  a  bald  eagle,  and  said, 
4  Listen  to  me,  Mackate  Ockola,  and  hear  what  I 
will.  Many  moons  shall  not  appear  and  pass  away, 
ere  the  white  men  will  grow  in  numbers  like  the 
leaves  on  the  trees.  As  they  increase,  my  people 
will  decay  and  disappear.  They  will  go  out  like 
the  embers  of  an  almost  extinguished  fire,  until 
they  have  no  habitations  but  their  graves ;  and 
even  in  these  they  will  not  be  suffered  to  rest,  for 
the  white  men,  not  content  with  what  grows  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  will  tear  up  her  bosom, 
and  lay  your  bones  bleaching  in  the  sun  and  the 


46  KONINGSMABKE. 

wind,  in  search  of  riches  and  food.  The  deer  will 
disappear  from  your  forests ;  the  fishes  will  be  shut 
out  from  your  streams,  by  these  people,  who  build 
dams  like  the  beavers  ;  and  you  will  starve  on  your 
hunting  grounds.  You  cannot  avoid  your  destiny, 
but  you  may  delay  it,  by  destroying  those  whose 
children,  if  they  live,  will  destroy  yours.  Go  and 
tell  my  people,  that  for  every  drop  of  the  white 
man's  blood  they  shall  spare,  their  children  and 
their  children's  children  will  pay  a  thousand  fold.' " 
This  cruel  message,  the  fabrication  of  the  priest, 
decided  the  fate  of  Koningsmarke  and  the  luckless 
high  constable  of  Elsingburgh.  It  is  impossible  for 
us  to  tell  what  were  the  motives  of  Mackate 
Ockola,in  thus  urging  the  death  of  the  two  captives. 
But  it  may  be  observed  here,  that  the  early  sys 
tems  of  religion,  in  all  nations  and  countries  with 
which  we  have  any  acquaintance,  are  more  or  less 
tinged  with  blood.  Everywhere  the  priests  have 
demanded  victims  to  propitiate  their  bloody  dei 
ties,  and  everywhere  the  altars  have  been  funeral 
pyres.  The  Mexican  priests  demanded  human 
sacrifices  ;  in  other  places,  the  blood  of  animals 
sufficed ;  and  even  among  the  Bramins,  whose 
religion  forbids  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  brutes, 
human  victims  are  encouraged  by  the  priests,  to 
expose  themselves  to  every  species  of  torture  at 
the  feast  of  the  Juggernaut,  and  to  offer  up  their 
lives  on  the  altars  of  a  cruel  deception.  Supersti 
tion  and  fanaticism,  in  truth,  delight  in  blood ;  and 


KONINGSMARKE.  47 

in  all  ages  and  nations  their  steps  may  be  traced 
by  that  infallible  mark.  It  was  reserved  for  the 
mild  and  merciful  system  of  religion  under  which 
we  live,  to  banish  all  atonements  of  blood,  all  sacri 
fices  of  animals  ;  to  make  the  offerings  of  the  heart 
a  substitute  for  the  torture  of  victims  ;  and,  had 
not  the  love  of  wealth,  the  lust  of  power,  and  the 
pride  of  opinion,  marred  the  beautiful  system,  so 
as  to  wrest  its  precepts  to  the  purposes  of  avarice 
and  ambition,  it  had  come  down  to  us,  even  to  this 
day,  without  its  snow-white  surplice  be  ing  sprinkled 
with  the  blood  of  a  single  victim.  But  here,  alas  ! 
as  in  all  preceding  systems  of  faith,  the  avarice, 
the  ambition,  the  bigotry,  and  the  pride  of  opinion, 
which  seem  the  besetting  sins  of  man,  have  exer 
cised  their  pernicious  influence,  and,  first  and  last, 
caused  the  shedding  of  more  blood  than  has  ever 
smoked  upon  all  the  Pagan  altars  of  the  world. 
Thus  has  the  purest,  the  most  mild,  and  the  most 
perfect  system  of  humanity  ever  propounded  to 
mankind,  been  impiously  made  the  pretext  for  every 
species  of  cruelty  and  bloodshed ;  and,  what  is  per 
haps  still  more  to  be  lamented,  its  divine  precept  of 
love  to  all  our  fellow  creatures,  converted  into  a 
warrant,  not  to  say  a  duty,  to  hate  all  those  who 
do  not  think  and  believe  exactly  like  ourselves. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression,  which  we 
hope  the  reader  will  pardon.  Koningsmarke  and 
his  companions  in  affliction  remained  ignorant  of 
the  decision  we  have  just  recorded.  We  will  not 


48  KONINGSMA.RKE. 

say  happily  ignorant,  since,  perhaps,  actual  cer 
tainty  would  have  been  preferable  to  the  doubts 
which  harassed  their  minds.  When  Christina 
awoke  from  her  long  sleep,  with  mind  and  body 
both  invigorated,  it  was  some  moments  before 
she  came  to  a  full  consciousness  of  her  situation. 
"  Where  am  I  ?"  exclaimed  she.  "  In  the  arms  of 
thy  sister,"  whispered  the  Indian  maid. 

Christina  looked  around  the  hut.  By  the  dim 
light  of  an  almost  extinguished  fire,  she  observed 
two  figures  in  a  sitting  posture,  leaning  against  the 
wall.  "  Who  is  that  ?"  whispered  she  to  Aouetti. 

"  It  is  he"  replied  the  Indian  maid, 

"  They  have  spared  him  then,"  shrieked  poor 
Christina;  "my  sister  has  prevailed,  and  he  is 
safe!" 

"  Safe  till  to-morrow,"  replied  the  other. 

"  No  longer  ?" 

"  No  longer.  To-morrow  I  know  not  what  may 
become  of  him.  Our  priest  is  to  decide,  and  he 
never  leans  to  mercy." 

Koningsmarke,  observing  that  Christina  was 
awake,  called  out  to  her — 

"  Christina  !  wilt  thou  not  come  near  me  ?" 

"Come  thou  to  me,"  replied  she,  preserving, 
even  in  this  trying  moment,  that  sentiment  of  deli 
cate  propriety  which  never  forsakes  a  virtuous 
female. 

"  I  cannot — I  am  fastened  to  this  spot." 

Christina  approached,  and  by  the  light  of  the 


KONINGSMARKE.  49 

fire,  perceived  he  was  bound  to  one  of  the  posts 
that  supported  the  simple  edifice. 

"He  asks  not  for  me,"  thought  Aouetti,  and 
wept  in  secret. 

In  this,  which  each  seemed  to  have  a  presenti 
ment  was  the  last  hour  they  should  spend  together, 
for  the  signs  of  day  now  began  to  appear,  Kon- 
ingsmarke  and  Christina  preserved  towards  each 
other  a  deep  solemnity  of  deportment,  from  which 
all  the  little  outward  endearments  of  love  were 
banished. 

"I  have  a  conviction,"  saidKoningsmarke,  "that 
thou  wilt  yet  live  to  be  received  to  the  arms  of  thy 
father." 

"  To  the  arms  of  my  Heavenly  Father,"  returned 
Christina,  "  for  none  other  shall  I  ever  behold.  If 
the  sun  sees  thee  die  this  morn  at  its  rising,  it  will 
set  at  night  on  my  breathless  body." 

"  Nay,"  returned  Koningsmarke,  "  say  not  so, 
my  best  love.  Thou  hast  motives  to  live,  and  duties 
to  perform,  when  I  am  gone.  Thou  hast  known 
me  but  a  little  while ;  thy  father  thou  hast  known 
from  the  first  breath  of  that  life  which  he  gave  thee. 
Return  the  blessing,  and  live  for  him." 

"  I  shall  never  see  him  more,"  cried  Christina. 

"When  I  am  gone,"  continued  the  other,  "and 
when  you  see  your  father,  tell  him  that  I  remem 
bered  his  kindness,  even  when  the  flaming  brand 
was  pointed  at  my  naked  throat,  and  the  coals  of 
fire  were  about  being  poured  on  my  uncovered 

VOL.  II — F 


50  KONINGSMARKE. 

head.  Tell  him  that  I  protected  you  while  I  could 
- — that  I  exposed  my  life  to  preserve  yours — and 
that  I  perished  in  a  last  effort  to  restore  you  to  his 
arms.  Should  he  ever  know  what  thou  knowest, 
he  will  forgive  me,  as  thou  hast,  for  the  sake  of 
what  I  have  done  and  tried  to  do  for  thee.  Wilt 
thou"  bear  him  this  message  from  me,  Chris 
tina?" 

Christina  could  not  answer,  for  her  emotions 
almost  stopped  her  breath.  Her  eyes  were  dry, 
but  her  heart  wept  tears  of  blood.  For  awhile 
she  remained  insensible  in  his  arms.  At  that  mo 
ment  the  door  of  the  hut  was  opened,  it  being  now 
broad  daylight,  and  Koriingsmarke,  with  his  unfor 
tunate  companion,  whose  stupor  became  every 
hour  more  profound,  were  untied  from  the  post,  and 
conducted  out  of  the  hut.  The  youth  motioned  to 
Aouetti,  and,  pressing  the  inanimate  form  of  Chris 
tina  to  his  heart,  as  for  the  last  time,  imprinted  a 
kiss  upon  her  cold  forehead,  and  gently  gave  her 
to  the  arms  of  the  Indian  maid. 

"  Be  good  to  thy  sister,"  whispered  he. 

"  I  will — but  say  good-by  to  poor  Aouetti." 

"  Good-by — and  may  thy  Maker  and  mine  bless 
thee/'  replied  Koningsmarke,  and  hastily  left  the 
place  without  looking  back. 

The  same  preparations  we  described  on  the  pre 
ceding  day  were  renewed,  and  the  two  captives 
fastened  to  the  stake.  The  brands  were  again 
lighted,  the  knife  and  the  tomahawk  lifted  to  begin 


KONTNGSMARKE.  51 

their  work,  and  the  revengeful  barbarians  standing 
on  tiptoe  to  enter  on  the  bloody  business.  But 
again  Providence  interposed.  All  at  once  the 
hands  of  the  brand-bearers  were  arrested,  and  the 
eyes  of  every  one  turned  in  a  direction  towards 
the  river,  along  whose  banks  appeared  a  train  of 
white  men,  bearing  a  white  flag,  the  universal  em 
blem  of  peace  and  good-will.  As  they  came  nearer, 
the  stiff  and  stately  form  of  Shadrach  Money  penny, 
followed  by  eight  or  ten  others,  dressed  in  broad- 
brimmed  hats,  with  their  arms  folded  upon  their 
bosoms,  were  distinguished,  walking  with  slow  and 
steady  pace  towards  the  spot  occupied  by  the  old 
men  of  the  tribes.  They  were  accompanied  by 
others,  bearing  a  variety  of  articles  of  Indian  trade. 
They  came  in  peace,  and  they  were  received  in 
peace  by  the  sons  of  the  shade.  The  policy  of 
William  Pcnn  with  regard  to  the  Indians,  can  never 
be  sufficiently  praised  or  admired.  From  his  first 
arrival  at  Coaquanock,  to  the  period  of  his  final 
departure,  he  preserved  peace  with  the  ancient 
proprietors  of  the  soil  and  the  game,  by  the  simple 
expedient  of  dealing  with  them  as  if  they  were 
his  equals.  He  bought  their  lands  at  a  price  equiv 
alent  to  the  advantages  they  yielded  to  the  original 
occupants  ;  restrained  his  people  from  all  encroach 
ments  upon  those  the  Indians  thought  proper  to 
retain  ;  and  so  inviolably  kept  sacred  the  stipula 
tions  of  his  first  purchase,  that  it  has  been  said, 


52  KONINGSMARKE. 

with  equal  truth  and  bitterness,  that  "  it  was  the 
only  treaty  not  ratified  by  oaths,  and  the  only  one 
that  was  never  violated." 

By  these  means,  and  by  the  peaceful  deport 
ment  of  his  people  on  all  occasions,  William  Penn 
acquired  and  retained  the  confidence  and  good 
will  of  the  Indians,  in  a  degree  of  which  there  are 
few  examples.  Indeed,  we  may  safely  say,  that 
none,  without  resorting  to  the  agency  of  supersti 
tion  or  force,  ever  attained  so  great  an  influence 
over  the  violent,  capricious,  and  intractable  tempers 
of  the  savages  of  North  America  ;  a  singular  race, 
with  whom  all  attempts  at  civilization  only  seem 
to  destroy  their  good  qualities,  and  convert  them 
from  barbarians  into  beasts. 

The  Big  Hats,  as  the  Indians  called  them,  were 
not  unknown  to  some  of  the  old  men  of  the  tribes, 
who  had  treated  and  traded  with  them,  at  Coaqua- 
nock,  and  who  now  received  Shadrach  and  his 
suite  as  old  acquaintances.  By  means  of  an  in 
terpreter,  they  entered  on  business  forthwith. 

"  Thou  comest  as  a  friend,"  said  Ollentangi. 

"  Yea,  verily,"  quoth  Shadrach  ;  "  I  come  from 
William  Penn,  who  is  the  friend  of  all  mankind, 
of  all  countries  and  colours.  He  hath  heard  thou 
hast  two  white  men,  and  a  maiden  with  them,  taken 
at  the  burning  of  Elsingburgh.  Verily,  that  was 
a  bad  act,  sachems.  What  had  they  done  unto 
thee,  that  thou  shouldst  set  fire  to  their  houses,  and 


KONINGSMARKE.  53 

carry  their  women  and  children  into  captivity? 
had  they  not  buried  the  hatchet  and  smoked  the 
calumet  with  thy  tribe  ? " 

"  True,"  replied  Ollentangi,  "  but  they  had  killed 
our  game,  and  shut  out  the  fish  from  our  rivers,  by 
building  dams  like  the  beavers  ;  therefore  we  made 
war  upon  them." 

"  Yea,  verily,"  quoth  Shadrach,  who,  by  the 
way,  loved  a  controversy  in  a  peaceable  way, 
almost  as  well  as  William  Penn  himself — "  Yea, 
verily,  but  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest  belong  to 
any  body ;  they  are  given  to  all  that  can  catch 
them.  Neither  are  the  fish  thine,  since  they  swim 
through  all  parts  of  the  great  seas,  and  wherever 
they  will.  Until  thou  shalt  catch  them  they  are 
not  thine." 

"  True,"  replied  Ollentangi,  with  infinite  gravity, 
"  but  if  the  white  man  prevents  the  fish  from  com 
ing  to  us,  how  can  we  catch  them  ?  We  shall 
starve  in  the  meanwhile." 

"Verily,"  quoth  Shadrach,  "lam  fain  to  con 
fess  the  truth  of  thy  words.  There  is  no  argument 
so  strong  as  necessity.  But  still  thou  shouldst  not 
have  made  war  against  them  for  this.  Thou 
shouldst  have  gone  to  law,  and,  peradventure, 
obliged  them  in  a  peaceable  manner  to  break  down 
the  obstructions  that  did  prevent  the  fish  from 
passing  upwards." 

"  True,  uncle,"  rejoined  Ollentangi — "  we  have 

VOL.  ii — F  2 


54  KONINGSMARKE. 

heard  something  of  that  same  law.  It  is  a  contest 
of  talking,  and  he  that  talks  the  longest,  wins  the 
cause.  Now  you  white  men  can  out-talk  us,  and 
we  can  beat  you  in  fighting.  Should  we  not  be 
great  fools  to  choose  the  former  mode  of  deciding 
our  differences?" 

"  Yea,  I  must  needs  confess  of  a  truth  there  is 
some  little  shadow,  as  it  were,  a  small  modicum 
of  a  glimmer  of  carnal  reason  in  what  thou  sayest. 
But  verily  I  must  not  pretermit  the  business  of  my 
mission,  for  the  two  captives  are  kept  all  this  while 
in  a  parlous  condition.  Art  thou  ready  to  hear 
me  in  the  spirit  of  peace  '? " 

"  Say  on — in  the  spirit  of  peace,"  replied  Ollen- 
tangi. 

"  In  the  spirit  of  peace,  then,"  quoth  Shadrach, 
raising  himself  on  tiptoe,  and  cocking  his  beaver, 
"  in  the  spirit  of  peace  I  come  from  the  good  Wil 
liam  Penn,  who  is  thy  friend  in  the  gospel,  (and, 
verily,  considering  thy  pagan  state,  out  of  the  gos 
pel  likewise,)  to  say  unto  thee  thus  wise  :  Listen — 
I  speak  his  words,  and  not  mine  own. 

"  William  Penn  hath  learned,  by  means  of  the 
(I  may  say)  providential  agency  of  a  certain  pro 
fane  tie-wig,  (which,  judging  from  the  bald  pate 
of  yon  captive,  must  have  appertained  unto  him,) 
that  the  people,  (meaning  thee,)  calling  themselves 
(as  I  may  say,  idly  and  profanely,)  the  Muskrats 
and  Mud  Turtles,  are  in  possession  of  certain  two 
white  men,  (who,  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  must  be 


KONINGSMARKE.  55 

those  tied  to  the  stake  yonder,)  together  with  a 
young  maiden,  daughter  to  him  who  calleth  himself 
the  Heer  Piper,  (who  I  must  aver  to  be  somewhat 
of  an  uncourteous  little  man,)  all  three  carried 
away  captives  from  the  village  of  Elsingburgh. 
Now  thus  saith  William  Penn :  inasmuch  as  thou 
lovest  good  watch-coats,  he  hath  sent  thee  half  a 
score  of  these  ;  and  inasmuch  as  thou  lovest  glass 
beads,  and  other  pernicious  vanities  of  the  flesh, 
(to  say  nothing  of  the  devil,)  he  hath  sent  thee  ten 
strings  of  these,  wherewith  to  pamper  the  pride 
of  thy  ears  and  noses  ;  and  inasmuch  as  thou  lovest 
tobacco,  he  hath  sent  thee  a  score  of  tin  tobacco- 
boxes,  filled  with  that  egregious  pufFardo,  called 
tobacco,  (which  by  the  way,  I  should  hold  in  sin 
gular  abomination,  were  it  not  that  it  was  hated 
by  James,  called  the  First,  that  enemy  to  the  saints.) 
For  all  which  good  things,  William  Penn,  as  afore 
said,  asketh  nothing  but  the  freedom  of  the  three 
aforesaid  captives,  that  they  may  be  delivered  to 
their  friends." 

"  Brother,"  quoth  an  old  Indian,  "  brother,  thou 
hast  forgotten  one  part  of  William  Penn's  message." 

"Yea, verily !"  replied  Shadrach, "what  is  that?" 

"  It  runneth  thus,"  replied  the  Indian :  "And  in 
asmuch  as  thou  lovest  fire,  William  Penn  hath  sent 
thee  two  kegs  of  water,  wherewith  to  get  right 
merry,  and  drink  his  health." 

"  Of  a  certainty,  Muskrat,"  said  Shadrach,  "  the 
truth  is  not  in  thee,  for  my  message  hath  nothing 


56  KONINGSMARKE. 

of  such  import  appertaining  to  its  contents.  Wil 
liam  Penn  dealeth  not  in  rum,  brandy,  or  any  other 
liquid  abominations ;  neither  is  he  moved  by  any 
kind  of  spirit  but  that  of  righteousness.  But  do 
ye  straightway  consult  together  what  answer  I 
am  to  bear  with  me  to  Coaquanock." 

While  the  old  men  were  consulting,  Shadrach, 
like  a  redoubtable  plenipotentiary,  caused  the 
watch-coats,  the  glass  beads,  and  the  tobacco-boxes, 
to  be  ostentatiously  displayed  before  the  longing 
eyes  of  the  savages.  The  more  they  looked,  the 
more  they  waxed  willing  to  surrender  the  captives, 
until  at  length  Ollentangi  announced  to  Shadrach, 
that  they  had  no  objection  to  make  the  exchange, 
provided  the  widow,  who,  as  affianced  to  Konings- 
marke,  ought  to  have  a  voice  in  his  disposal,  gave 
her  consent.  But  that  notable  virago,  on  being 
applied  to,  flatly  refused  to  sanction  the  treaty,  and 
loudly  demanded  the  sacrifice  of  her  ungrateful 
slave,  who  had  scorned  her  love,  and  forsaken  her 
for  a  whey-faced  girl.  Hereupon,  Shadrach  Mon- 
eypenny  drew  from  his  pouch  a  beautiful  string  of 
sky-blue  glass  beads,  which  he  courteously  and 
gallantly  tied  about  the  neck  of  the  inexorable 
widow.  He  then  produced  a  small  looking-glass, 
which  he  held  up  before  her,  that  she  might  see 
herself  thus  apparelled,  making  her  understand,  at 
the  same  time,  that  these  things  should  be  her's, 
provided  she  would  consent  to  the  reprieve  of 
Koningsmarke.  The  widow's  heart  was  melted ; 


KONINGSMARKE.  57 

she  acquiesced  in  the  freedom  of  her  affianced 
husband,  and  departed,  with  a  delighted  heart,  to 
contemplate  herself  and  her  beads  in  her  looking- 
glass. 

No  obstacle  now  remained  to  the  release  of  the 
two  captives,  who  had  listened  to  this  negotiation 
with  a  breathless  solicitude.  They  were  accord 
ingly  untied,  washed,  dressed,  and  conducted  to 
the  hut  where  we  left  Christina  and  the  Indian 
maid.  The  meeting  between  the  former  and  Kon- 
ingsmarke,  after  such  a  parting  as  we  have  de 
scribed,  was  accompanied  by  feelings  that,  though 
repressed  by  the  presence  of  the  strangers,  may 
be  easily  imagined.  Immediate  preparations  were 
made  for  their  departure,  lest  the  savages  might 
repent  their  bargain,  after  the  novelty  of  possess 
ing  the  coats,  beads,  and  tin  boxes,  had  passed 
away.  Poor  Aouetti  was  quite  broken-hearted  at 
the  parting  with  her  sister.  She  would  have  ac 
companied  her,  but  was  prevented  by  her  mother 
and  friends.  Christina,  too,  could  not,  in  the  midst 
of  the  new  visions  of  joyous  hope  that  danced 
before  her  fancy,  forget  the  gentle  kindnesses,  the 
sisterly  affection  of  the  little  Deer  Eyes.  But  a 
secret  feeling  which  she  could  not  repress,  pre 
vented  her  encouraging  the  idea  of  Aouetti  going 
to  Elsingburgh.  She  therefore  embraced  her  with 
tears,  kissed  her  cheek,  and  bade  her  sometimes 
remember  her  sister  Mimi.  "Ah!"  replied  the 


58  KONINGSMARKE. 

artless  maid, "  I  know  I  should,  I  ought  to  be  happy, 
for  you  and  he  will  be  happy ;  but  I  shall  be  so 
miserable  when  you  are  gone,  that  I  shall  soon 
die. — I  could  have  borne  his  death,  for  we  would 
have  mourned  together  ;  but  I  cannot  survive  his 
departure  with  you."  Shadrach  now  summoned 
his  troop,  and  the  procession  departed  from  the 
village,  to  return  no  more. 

Before  we  conclude  this  book,  it  may  be  proper 
to  explain  the  causes  which  led  to  the  release  of 
our  three  captives.  The  circumstance  may  serve 
to  show  on  what  trifling  chances  the  fate  of  indi 
viduals  sometimes  turns.  The  Indian  belonging 
to  the  village  on  the  Ohio,  destroyed,  as  we  have 
related,  by  the  Muskrats  and  Mud  Turtles,  who  had 
obtained  possession  of  Lob  Dotterel's  wig,  some 
time  afterward  visited  Coaquanock,  and  carried 
that  great  medicine  with  him.  As  may  naturally 
be  supposed,  such  an  appendage  excited  no  little 
curiosity  on  the  part  of  the  Big  Hats  ;  and  a  cor 
respondent  of  the  Royal  Society  of  England,  just 
then  established,  set  about  preparing  a  paper  upon 
the  subject,  wherein  he  intended  to  prove,  that  some 
of  the  Indian  tribes  wore  wigs.  Subsequent  in 
quiry,  however,  fully  elucidated  the  phenomenon, 
and  the  learned  Pundit  threw  his  memoir  into  the 
fire.  The  wig  made  no  little  noise  in  the  new 
world,  insomuch  that  some  of  the  villagers  occa 
sionally  neglected  their  own  affairs,  to  talk  on  the 


KONINGSMARKE.  59 

subject.  But  the  good  William  Penn,  putting  all 
the  circumstances  together,  had  little  doubt  that 
the  wig  was  connected  with  the  fate  of  the  cap 
tives  of  Elsingburgh.  With  that  humanity  which 
characterized  all  his  actions,  he  lost  no  time  in 
preparing  the  mission  of  Shadrach  Moneypenny, 
which  happily  resulted  in  the  redemption  of  our 
three  captives,  as  we  have  just  related. 

We  must  not  omit  mentioning,  that  the  likely 
fellow,  Cupid,  of  whom  we  have  of  late  said 
nothing,  because  we  had  nothing  to  say,  also  ac 
companied  Shadrach,  somewhat  against  his  will. 
He  had  lived  a  life  of  perfect  freedom  and  idleness, 
two  things  equally  dear  to  his  condition  and  colour, 
the  savages  permitting  him  to  lounge  about,  and 
sun  himself  as  much  as  he  pleased.  Cupid,  in  the 
elevation  of  his  heart,  at  thus  seeing  himself  turned 
gentleman,  and  his  old  enemy,  Lob  Dotterel,  obliged 
to  labour  for  his  behoof,  one  day  incautiously  let 
out  a  secret,  which  he  might  better  have  kept,  as 
it  led  to  consequences  that  finally  involved  not 
only  himself  in  destruction,  but  caused  also  the 
death  of  his  grandmother,  the  sibyl  of  the  Frizzled 
Head. 

Omitting,  at  least  for  the  present,  the  principal 
incidents  which  betel  Shadrach  and  his  party  on 
their  return  to  Coaquanock,  we  shall  merely  re 
mark,  that  honest  Lob  Dotterel  continued,  during 
the  whole  journey,  stupified  with  the  vicissitudes 


60  KONINGSMARKE. 

he  had  encountered  within  a  short  time  past.  Nor 
did  he  exhibit  any  sign  of  consciousness  till,  on  his 
arrival  at  this  renowned  settlement,  his  wrath  was 
suddenly  enkindled,  at  seeing  a  knot  of  little  chil 
dren  making  dirt  pies  in  the  middle  of  the  street. 
Hereupon  the  soul  of  the  high  constable  of  Elsing- 
burgh,  suddenly  awaked  to  a  perception  of  passing 
objects  ;  and  he  threatened  roundly  to  commit  the 
juvenile  offenders. 


BOOK   SEVENTH. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  great  value  of  dukes  and  earls  in  novel  writing. 

IT  is  quite  impossible  for  our  readers  to  conceive 
a  tenth  part  of  the  yearnings  we  have  endured  in 
the  course  of  this  work,  in  consequence  of  not 
having  been  able,  without  committing  some  unpar 
donable  violence,  to  introduce  to  their  acquaintance 
and  familiarity  a  single  titled  person,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  giving  dignity  to  distress,  and  point  to  our 
jokes.  The  only  man  of  high  rank,  the  honour  of 
whose  intimacy  we  enjoyed  in  our  travels  abroad, 
was  a  certain  Duke  Humphrey,  with  whom  we 
occasionally  dined.  But  as,  to  say  the  truth,  we 
can't  declaim  much  in  favour  of  his  dinners  or  his 
wine,  we  will  not  trouble  our  readers  with  an  in 
troduction  ;  for,  to  be  candid  with  them,  his  notice 
would  confer  no  great  honour,  the  said  duke  being 
generally  surrounded  by  a  set  of  hungry  authors, 
who  for  the  most  part  did  not  know  where  else  to 
get  a  dinner. 

This  incapacity  we  consider  a  most  serious  mis 
fortune,  inasmuch  as  novel  writers,  we  mean  those 
who  aspire  to  the  notice  and  approbation  of  the 

VOL.  II G 


62  KONINGSMARKE. 

beau  monde,  may  be  said  to  be  in  the  predicament 
of  certain  insignificant  people,  who  derive  their 
sole  consequence  from  the  company  they  affect  to 
keep,  and  to  which  they  take  occasion  to  introduce 
their  friends.  These  aforesaid  persons,  by  affect 
ing  great  intimacy  with  people  of  rank,  retailing 
their  jokes,  and  sometimes  pretending  to  disclose 
their  most  secret  thoughts,  acquire  the  reputation 
of  high  ton,  and  greatly  excite  the  wonder  and 
admiration  of  the  vulgar.  We  recollect  a  good- 
natured,  good-for-nothing  sort  of  fellow  of  this  kind, 
who  made  it  his  sole  business  to  introduce  a  certain 
great  man,  of  whom  he  was  a  kind  of  hanger-on, 
to  all  his  little  acquaintance.  By  this  means  he 
managed  to  attain  to  great  consequence,  in  a  cer 
tain  circle,  and  got  numerous  invitations  to  dinner 
parties.  Nay,  he  at  last  turned  his  great  man  to 
so  good  an  account,  that  a  city  heiress  actually 
was  induced  to  marry  him,  solely  on  the  score  of 
having  it  announced  in  the  papers,  that  his  titled 
friend  was  at  the  wedding  and  gave  away  the 
bride. 

We  have  endeavoured  to  make  all  the  amends 
possible  for  the  absence  of  what  constitutes  the 
quintessence  of  the  interest  arising  from  works  of 
imagination,  by  the  introduction  of  persons  coming 
as  near  to  kings  and  nobility,  as  any  that  are  the 
natural  product  of  our  country.  But,  after  all,  we 
are  obliged  to  confess,  that  Indian  monarchs,  pro 
vincial  governors,  nay,  our  good  friend  William 


KON1NGSARMKE. 


Penn  himself,  though  the  illustrious  founder  of  what 
may  almost  be  called  an  empire,  are  but  poor  sub 
stitutes  for  dukes  and  earls,  whose  very  titles  tickle 
the  fancy  so  delightfully,  that  the  reader  seems  all 
the  while  swimming  in  an  ocean  of  peacock's 
feathers. 

True  it  is,  that  we  have  a  knight — not  a  knight- 
errant,  but  a  genuine  knight  of  James  the  First's 
own  dubbing,  in  reserve,  as  a  sort  of  bonne  bouche 
for  the  last,  in  order  to  leave  an  agreeable  impres 
sion  on  the  palate  of  the  reader's  imagination.  But, 
after  all,  what  is  a  mere  knight  ?  they  are  so  plenty 
now-a-days  in  old  England,  especially  ever  since 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  that  the  title  has  not  been 
able  to  entrap  a  single  city  heiress.  "  Your  thirty 
pound  knights,"  as  an  old  dramatist  calls  them, 
who  have  barely  enough  to  pay  for  their  spurs, 
swarm  exceedingly,  and  are  uncommonly  anxious 
to  make  every  rich  plebian  Joan  they  meet,  a  lady. 
Nay,  not  a  few  of  the  species  have  lately  infested 
our  country,  and,  by  their  actual  presence,  irre 
trievably  robbed  the  fashionable  young  ladies  of 
one  of  their  favourite  subjects  of  contemplation, 
by  giving  a  clear  demonstration  that,  whatever  a 
king,  a  duke,  or  a  lord  may  be,  a  knight  is  but  a 
mere  man  with  a  "  Sir"  to  his  name.  Such  as  he 
is,  however,  we  beg  the  reader  to  make  the  most 
of  him,  when  he  vouchsafes  his  appearance. 

To  confess  the  honest  truth,  we  are,  as  has  been, 
most  likely  discovered  ere  this,  rather  new  in  the 


64  KONINGSMARKE. 

trade  of  novel  writing,  having  been  partly  induced 
to  enter  upon  it,  as  people  engage  in  the  tobacco 
or  grocery  line,  from  seeing  others  prosper  mightily 
in  the  business.  But  we  shall  do  better  hereafter, 
having  felt  the  want  of  a  hero  and  heroine  of  pro 
per  rank  most  sorely  in  the  course  of  this  work. 
We  take  this  opportunity  of  advertising  our  friends, 
and  the  public  in  general,  that  we  have  at  present 
six  new  historical  novels  on  the  anvil,  one  of  which, 
we  have  contracted  with  our  bookseller  to  ham 
mer  out  every  twelvemonth,  and  each  of  which 
shall  contain  one  legitimate,  tyrannical  king,  at 
least,  provided  there  should  be  a  sufficient  number 
remaining  unhanged  at  that  time.  We  have  also 
stipulated  with  our  publisher,  that  not  one  of  the 
characters  shall  be  below  a  right-honourable,  or  an 
Irish  peer,  at  least.  Advising  our  readers  to  keep 
a  good  look  out  for  these  high  treats,  we  now  pro 
ceed  with  the  thread  of  our  history. 


KONINGSMARKE.  66 


CHAPTER   II. 

Accursed  be  the  stars  *******#*« 
The  fulsome  sun,  that  shines  on  all  alike, 
Good,  bad,  indifferent,  tag,  rag,  and  bobtail ! 
Satan's  belied,  and  so  is  honest  Cain, 
And  so  am  I — but  ********! 

Lord 

IT  is  now  time  to  return,  and  take  a  look  at  the 
worthy  inhabitants  of  Elsingburgh,  who  had  long 
ago  rebuilt  their  habitations,  and  were  now  each 
one  pursuing  his  usual  avocations,  under  the  salu 
tary  pressure  of  that  necessity,  which  obliges  man 
kind  to  forget  the  past,  in  providing  for  the  wants 
of  the  present  and  the  future. 

As  we  before  premised,  the  house  of  Dominie 
Kanttwell  was  rebuilt  and  furnished,  by  the  pious 
exertions  of  his  flock,  before  any  body  else  had 
provided  for  his  own  necessities ;  and,  notwith 
standing  the  zeal  with  which  that  worthy  man 
declaimed  against  good  works,  on  this  occasion 
he  was  pleased  to  exempt  those  which  were  done 
in  his  especial  behoof,  from  his  malediction.  In 
deed,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  Dominie  looked 
upon  charity,  especially  that  charity  which  was 
exercised  in  his  own  favour,  as  belonging  to  a 
species  of  good  works,  which  might,  under  certain 
circumstances,  be  tolerated.  Still  he  continued  to 
rail  against  the  luxuries  and  indulgencies  of  this 

VOL.  II G  2 


66  KONINGSMARKE. 

world,  although  his  capacious  rotundity  of  figure, 
his  double  chin,  and  large  square  silver  buckles, 
furnished  shrewd  indications,  that  the  Dominie  did 
not  feel  it  absolutely  necessary  to  reinforce  his 
precepts  by  the  authority  of  his  example. 

The  good  aunt  Edith,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  Dominie  Kanttwell,  who  had  lately  induced  her 
to  make  a  will  in  favour  of  the  church,  grew  every 
day  more  perfect.  So  far  did  she  carry  her  con 
tempt  for  the  things  of  this  world,  that  she  extended 
it  to  all  mankind,  except  a  small  circle  of  the  elect, 
who  listened  to  her  edifying  instructions,  and 
talked  scandal  against  all  the  rest  of  the  villagers, 
whom  they  were  pleased  to  denominate  "  vessels 
of  wrath."  Considering  all  these  as  objects  of  the 
Divine  vengeance,  the  good  people  thought  them 
selves  bound  to  hate  them  also,  and  to  decline  any 
exchange  of  kindness  or  social  intercourse  with 
such  wicked  sinners.  These  simple,  well-meaning 
souls,  thought  that  they  became  saints,  by  strictly 
following  the  example  of  aunt  Edith  and  the  Do 
minie.  But  they  were  mistaken.  They  became 
spiritually  proud,  (the  worst  species  of  pride,)  hard 
hearted,  arrogant,  and  supercilious,  to  all  but  the 
chosen  set ;  incapable  of  social  or  kindred  affec 
tion  ;  strangers  to  the  indulgence  of  pity ;  bad 
fathers,  mothers,  husbands,  and  wives  ;  and  incor 
rigible  in  their  faults,  because  they  cherished  them 
as  virtues.  In  fine,  while  complacently  viewing 
themselves  as  exclusively  belonging  to  the  elect. 


KONINGSMARKE.  67 

they  treated  all  others  as  outcasts ;  as  beings 
having  no  sort  of  affinity  with  themselves,  and  no 
common  interest  with  them,  either  in  this  world  or 
the  world  to  come.  Hence,  all  the  kindnesses  of 
good  neighbourhood,  the  civilities  of  social  life,  the 
customary  exchange  of  acts  of  courtesy  and  friend 
ship,  all  those  little  ties  which  knit  society  together 
by  the  best  bonds,  those  of  mutual  benefits,  pro 
ducing  mutual  good-will — all  these  gave  place  to 
a  harsh  contempt,  an  arrogant  superiority,  on  one 
hand,  and  a  settled  hatred,  or  contemptuous  indif 
ference,  on  the  other.  Such  is  ever  the  result 
of  carrying  to  extremes  the  application  of  the 
excellent  precepts,  which  were  doubtless  only  in 
tended  to  check,  but  not  destroy,  those  worldly 
feelings  and  pursuits,  which  are  essential,  not  only 
to  the  happiness,  but  the  very  existence  of  man 
kind,  and  are  only  pernicious  to  society,  or  indi 
viduals,  when  operating  without  either  moral  or 
religious  restraints. 

As  to  the  good  aunt  Edith,  she  might  with  truth 
be  said  to  wallow  every  day  deeper  and  deeper  in 
the  mire  of  pious  abstraction.  Her  time,  during 
the  intervals  between  going  to  church,  night  meet 
ings,  and  love-feasts,  was  usually  passed  in  bed, 
where  she  kept  all  the  family  waiting  upon  her, 
and  where  she  and  the  virago,  Bombie  of  the  Friz 
zled  Head,  used  to  have  divers  keen  encounters 
of  that  sharpest  of  all  sharp  weapons,  the  tongue. 
While  the  disconsolate  Heer,  to  whom  she  was 


68  KONINGSMARKE. 

indebted  for  an  asylum,  a  home,  and  all  the  com 
forts  of  life,  was  sitting  in  solitary  sorrow,  remem 
bering  and  lamenting  his  gentle  and  affectionate 
child,  without  a  soul  to  sympathize  in  his  cureless 
grief,  the  excellent  Edith,  considering  him  as  little 
better  than  one  of  the  wicked,  paid  no  attention  to 
his  infirmities  or  his  woes,  except  occasionally  to 
comfort  him  with  the  assurance  that  the  loss  of  his 
only  child  was  a  judgment  upon  him,  for  loving  her 
better  than  the  church  and  the  Dominie. 

Sometimes  the  Frizzled  Head,  who,  though  a 
shrew  and'  a  termagant  of  the  first  order,  was  not 
altogether  destitute  of  that  carnal  and  worldly- 
minded  sympathy,  which  is  held  in  such  abomina 
tion  by  the  elect,  when  exercised  towards  the 
sinful  sons  and  daughters  of  men,  would  prepare 
some  favourite  dish,  or  little  nick-nack,  to  tempt 
the  waning  appetite  of  her  master.  But  so  sure 
as  aunt  Edith  heard  of  this,  though  ever  so  sick 
and  weak,  she  would  rise  from  her  bed,  as  it  were 
by  miracle,  lay  violent  hands  on  the  portion  of  the 
good  Heer,  who  fared  on  these  occasions  like  poor 
Esau,  and  carry  it  off  to  comfort  Dominie  Kantt- 
well,  or  some  one  of  the  elect  who  had  caught 
cold  attending  upon  a  night  meeting.  Indeed,  it 
was  the  great  object  of  the  Dominie's  policy,  to 
govern  the  community  of  Elsingburgh,  by  estab 
lishing  a  sort  of  imperium  in  imperio  in  every 
house  of  the  village.  This  he  effected  by  gaining 
an  ascendency  over  the  married  females,  and  thus 


KONINGSMARKE.  69 

governing  the  household,  in  spite  of  the  sinful  and 
inordinate  grumblings  of  its  liege  and  legitimate 
lord.  Some  people  may  think  this  mode  of  acquir 
ing  influence  was  not  exactly  either  fair  or  honest ; 
but  it  is  not  our  business  (being  a  bachelor)  to  con 
test  the  point.  We  only  profess  to  tell  what  is 
necessary  to  the  progress  and  final  catastrophe  of 
our  history. 

Numerous,  not  to  say  innumerable,  were  the 
little  societies  established,  under  the  influence  and 
patronage  of  aunt  Edith  and  Dominie  Kanttwell, 
whose  industry  in  collecting  donations  from  men, 
women,  and  children,  was  such  that  there  was  not 
a  bit  of  molasses-candy,  or  pennyworth  of  ginger 
bread,  wickedly  devoured  by  the  little  urchins  of 
Elsingburgh.  All  went  to  the  Dominie,  and  through 
him — nobody  knew  where.  One  society  was  the 
parent  of  half  a  dozen  more,  until  they  multiplied 
so  fast,  that  the  good  women  of  the  village  had  no 
time  to  attend  to  domestic  affairs ;  and  no  traveller 
could  sojourn  a  night  at  Elsingburgh,  without  rising 
pale  in  the  morning,  in  consequence  of  having  suf 
ficed  to  satiate  the  appetites  of  innumerable  caitiffs 
of  the  carnivorous  species,  whose  numbers  always 
furnish  shrewd  indications  of  good  or  evil  house 
keeping.  The  Dominie  was  the  prime  mover  of 
all  these,  and  it  was  observed  of  him,  that,  like 
Goldsmith's  "  man  in  black,"  he  always  went  about 
with  his  three-cornered  cocked-hat,  to  collect  sub 
scriptions,  but  never  was  seen  to  put  any  thing  into 


70  KONINGSMARKE. 

it  himself.  Hence  it  was  affirmed  by  his  admirers, 
that  he  was  a  truly  charitable  person,  who  hated 
ostentation,  and  always  gave  in  secret.  Like 
FalstafF,  however,  though  nobody,  such  was  the 
care  he  took  to  avoid  discovery,  ever  detected  him 
in  being  charitable  himself,  he  was  certainly  the 
cause  of  charity  in  others.  So  much,  indeed,  did 
he  excel  in  the  art  of  levying  contributions  on  the 
necessities  of  the  poor,  that,  at  one  period  of  our 
history,  there  was  hardly  a  labouring  man  in  the 
village  that  had  a  whole  coat  to  his  back,  or  a 
child  that  was  not  sorely  out  at  the  elbows  ;  nay, 
it  may  with  perfect  veracity  be  affirmed,  that  a 
majority  of  them  were  in  the  situation  of  the  verita 
ble  "Dicky  Doubt,"  as  set  forth  in  the  famous 
couplet  of  which  Dicky  is  the  hero.  The  follow 
ing  colloquy,  between  a  worthy  hard-working  man, 
called  Fospe  Ontstout,  and  his  wife,  relative  to 
these  matters,  has  been  preserved  by  the  Histo 
rical  Society  of  Elsingburgh,  and  will  better  illus 
trate  the  effects  of  the  Dominie's  exertions,  than 
any  general  details.  There  is  a  notice  of  Fospe 
Ontstout  appended  to  the  article,  stating,  that  be 
ing  at  length  reduced  to  actual  poverty,  by  the 
attention  his  wife  paid  to  every  body's  wants  and 
affairs  but  those  of  her  family,  and  the  charity  she 
bestowed  everywhere  but  at  home,  he  retrieved 
his  affairs  entirely,  by  the  lucky  thought  of  getting 
appointed  beggar  to  two  or  three  societies :  "  thus," 
as  the  old  sly-boots  of  an  author  adds,  "  thus 


KONINGSMARKE.  71 

nynglie  deportynge  hymselfe,  belike  untoe  certaine 
greene-hornes,  who,  after  beyinge  sorely  plucked, 
doe  incontinentlye  turne  ymselves  aboute,  and 
plucke  others  ynne  theire  turne."  It  is  likewise 
noted  in  the  old  manuscript,  that  Fospe's  wife  was 
a  plump,  rosy-faced  dame,  and  reckoned  one  of 
the  prettiest  women  in  the  whole  village. 

It  was  a  cold,  raw  evening,  and  Fospe,  after 
being  out  all  day  in  the  sleet  and  rain,  cutting  wood, 
returned  home,  cold,  wet  and  hungry,  and  addressed 
his  wife  as  follows  : 

Fospe.  Terese,  my  good  girl,  my  feet  are  as 
wet  as  a  drowned  rat.  Give  me  a  pair  of  dry 
stockings  from  those  I  bought  the  other  day  of  the 
pedlar  from  New-York. 

Terese.  I  can't,  my  dear ;  I  gave  them  all  to 
the  society  last  night.  The  Dominie  says  we  must 
give  all  our  sparings  to  the  poor,  and  tells  us  we 
shall  never  miss  what  we  give  away  in  this  manner. 

Fospe.  Hum  !  I  wish  the  Dominie  would  make 
his  words  good,  for  I  feel  just  now  very  uncom 
fortable,  and  miss  very  much  the  dry  stockings  you 
gave  away  to  the  society.  But  I  suppose  there 's 
no  help  for  it ;  so,  as  I  have  no  money  just  now,  I 
must  borrow  the  shilling  I  gave  Hans  for  Christmas, 
and  step  over  to  the  shop  to  buy  a  pair. 

Terese.  But,  my  dear,  Hans  has  parted  with  his 
money  already. 

Fospe.  What,  the  young  rogue  has  been  at  the 
cake-shop,  I  suppose  ? 


72  KONINGSMARKE. 

Terese.  No,  my  dear,  Dominie  Kanttwell  per 
suaded  us  to  give  it  to  the  society,  and  promised 
to  mention  Hans,  in  his  sermon  next  Sunday,  be 
fore  the  whole  congregation. 

Fospe.  Well,  what 's  done  can't  be  undone ;  we 
must  sell  the  pig,  for  my  stockings  are  not  only 
wet,  but  worn  out,  and  I  must  have  a  dry  pair,  wife. 

Terese.  To  be  sure,  but,  my  dear,  the  pig  is 
gone  too. 

Fospe.     What,  has  he  run  away,  or  been  stolen  ? 

Terese.  No,  my  dear ;  but  the  Dominie  begged 
him  for  the  society  ;  he  assured  me  the  pig  would 
be  returned  tenfold  to  us. 

Fospe.  Hum !  ay !  Well,  Terese,  just  run  to  the 
pig-sty,  and  see  if  the  ten  pigs  have  arrived.  We 
must  part  with  one  of  them  immediately.  But 
stay ;  it  is  wet,  and  you'd  better  not  go  out  this 
evening.  Call  Hans,  and  I'll  send  him. 

Terese.     Here  he  comes,  my  dear. 

Fospe.  Why,  he  looks  like  a  beggar's  brat,  all 
in  rags.  I  wish,  my  dear,  you  would  mend  his 
trowsers,  for  you  see  his  knees  are  all  naked. 

Terese.  I  would,  my  dear,  but  really  I  havn't 
time.  The  society  has  agreed  to  make  up  six 
dozen  suits  for  the  poor  children  of  Greenland,  who 
the  Dominie  assures  us,  are  starving  with  cold,  and 
all  my  time  is  taken  up  in  labouring  for  these  dear 
little  sufferers.  The  Dominie  says  it  will  bring  a 
blessing  on  the  family. 

Fospe.    Well,  well,  the  Dominie,  I  dare  say,  is 


KONINGSMARKE.  73 

right.  Here,  Hans,  run  to  the  pig-sty,  and  see 
if  the  ten  pigs  are  come. 

Terese.  Lord,  my  dear,  you  don't — you're  not 
such  a  fool  as  to  believe  they  are  come  already. 

Fospe.  Why  riot,  my  dear?  The  Dominie 
told  you  so,  and  every  thing  he  says  is  true.  But, 
my  dear,  what  have  you  got  for  supper?  you  know 
I've  had  nothing  since  breakfast.  Can't  you  cook 
some  of  the  fat  venison,  left  this  morning  ? — come, 
bustle,  my  dear,  I'm  as  hungry  as  a  wolf. 

Terese.  But,  my  dear,  all  the  fat  venison  is 
gone;  I — 

Fospe.  What !  you  and  Hans,  and  the  rest  of 
the  little  rogues,  have  made  away  with  it  hey  ? 
Well,  never  mind,  I'm  glad  you've  got  good  stom 
achs  and  something  to  fill  them. 

Terese.  No,  no,  my  dear,  we  made  our  dinner 
of  the  fresh  fish  you  caught  yesterday,  from  under 
the  ice.  The  Dominie  begged  the  venison  for  a 
poor  family,  he  said  had  given  all  they  could  spare 
to  the  society,  and  were  now  sick  and  starving. 

Fospe.  Very  well,  Terese,  we  mustn't  refuse 
to  help  people  that  are  sick  and  starving.  But 
though  I'm  not  sick,  I'm  almost  starved  myself. 
Do  bake  me  a  warm  Indian  cake,  will  you  ?  come, 
that's  a  good  girl. 

Terese.  I  would,  my  dear,  but  how  worldly- 
minded  you  are  !  The  Dominie  says  we  mustn't 
think  of  such  things :  don't  you  see  the  fire  is  all 
gone  out  ? 

VOL.  II— H 


74  KONINGSMARKE. 

Fospe.  Yes,  and  feel  it  too ;  but  how  came  you 
to  let  it  go  out,  this  raw,  cold  day  ? 

Terese.  Why,  my  dear,  Dominie  Kanttwell 
called  for  me  to  go  with  him  to  a  meeting,  and  so — • 

Fospe.  Hum  !  but  what  became  of  the  children 
while  you  were  gone  ? 

Terese.  Why,  I  locked  them  all  up  together, 
and  put  out  the  fire,  for  fear  of  accidents. 

Fospe.  Careful  mother  !  Well,  I'll  go  and 
make  a  fire,  and  then  you  shall  bake  me  the  Indian 
cake,  while  I  dry  myself  by  the  blaze. 

Terese.     Yes,  my  dear,  but — 

Fospe.     But  what,  Terese  ? 

Terese.  Why,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  my  dear,  I 
am  engaged  to  go  with  the  Dominie  to  a  protracted 
meeting  this  evening,  and  it  is  now  about  the 
time.  The  Dominie  says,  that  baking  cakes,  mend 
ing  our  children's  clothes,  and  all  that,  is  but  filthy 
rags,  compared  with  night  meetings. 

The  patience  of  poor  Fospe  was  now  quite  ex 
hausted  ;— "  the  d — 1  take  the  Dominie,"  cried  he, 
"  I  wish  he  had  my  wet  feet  and  empty  stomach 
for  his  night's  portion  with  all  my  heart."  Just 
then  the  Dominie  entered,  with  a  stately  step,  and 
sonorous  "  hem  ! "  that  awed  the  spirit  of  the  good 
yeoman  into  silent  acquiescence.  Terese  put  on 
her  bonnet  and  cloak,  and  accompanied  the  Domi 
nie  to  the  love-feast,  whence  she  did  not  return  till 
almost  midnight.  Poor  Fospe  went  to  bed  wet 
and  hungry,  and  could  not  help  thinking,  as  he  said 


KONINGSMARKE.  75 

his  prayers,  the  Dominie  might  be  better  employed 
than  in  teaching  well-meaning  women,  that  the 
neglect  of  their  domestic  duties  in  this  world  was 
the  surest  passport  to  happiness  in  the  world  to 
come. 

Before  concluding  this  chapter,  it  is  our  desire 
to  have  it  distinctly  understood,  that  we  enter  not, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  upon  any  questions 
connected  with  religious  controversies,  or  the  util 
ity  of  any  of  those  numerous  societies,  which  the 
zeal,  the  humanity,  or  the  ostentatious  vanity  of 
mankind  have  instituted.  All  we  design  is,  to  re 
late  what  happened  in  the  famous  village  of  Elsing- 
burgh ;  and  if  in  so  doing,  it  should  appear  that 
indiscreet  zeal,  sometimes,  is  found  at  war  with 
social  duties  and  social  happiness,  and  that  ill-di 
rected  charity  often  impoverishes  the  industrious 
without  relieving  the  idle,  let  us  not  be  blamed  for 
these  consequences.  They  only  furnish  additional 
proof,  that  excess  is  in  itself  the  root  of  all  evil, 
and  that  whenever  the  blessed  institution  of  reli 
gion  interferes  with  our  social  and  moral  obliga 
tions,  it  ceases  to  be  the  conservator  of  human 
happiness,  as  well  as  of  human  virtue.  As  the 
excesses  of  sensual  indulgence  destroy  the  capacity 
for  more  refined  gratifications,  so  do  those  of  a 
fanatical  religion  blight  and  wither  the  most  amiable 
feelings  of  the  heart,  rendering  us  insensible  to 
many  of  the  purest,  the  most  exalted  delights  of 
which  our  nature  is  susceptible. 


70  KONINGSMARKE. 


CHAPTER  III. 


"  Let  fools  gaze 

t  bearded  stars,  it  is  all  one  to  me 
As  if  they  had  been  shaved. 
I  will  out-beard  a  comet  any  day, 
Or  night  either,  marry." 


ALL  this  while  the  poor  Heer  remained  without 
a  hope,  without  a  comforter,  his  mind  ever  running 
on  the  blue-eyed  maiden  he  had,  peradventure, 
lost  for  ever.  The  judgment  which,  according  to 
aunt  Edith's  theory,  had  fallen  upon  his  head,  for 
the  punishment  of  his  sinful  delights  in  contem 
plating  the  mild  virtues,  and  gentle,  unobtrusive 
charms  of  his  duteous,  affectionate  daughter, 
seemed  only  to  bind  him  more  closely  to  the  earth, 
for  he  could  think  of  nought  but  her.  His  sole 
employment  was  in  doing  nothing,  although  he  was 
incapable  of  sitting  still  more  than  a  minute  at  a 
time.  Like  Bombie  of  the  Frizzled  Head,  he  wan 
dered  and  wandered  about,  almost  without  purpose, 
or  even  consciousness,  until  some  sound,  some  ob 
ject,  some  nothing,  as  it  would  seem,  struck  upon 
one  of  those  chords  by  which  every  thing  that  is 
beautiful  or  sweet  in  nature  is  connected  with  the 
memory  of  those  we  love,  and  have  lost.  Then 
;iis  trembling  lip,  and  wan,  wet  eye,  bore  testi- 


KONINGSMARKE.  77 

mony,  that  the  light  still  continued  to  burn,  though 
the  lamp  which  held  it  seemed  quite  broken  to 
pieces. 

He  no  longer  took  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
his  government,  which  now  fell  into  the  hands  of 
master  Wolfgang  Langfanger,  who  thereupon  took 
his  full  swing  of  public  improvements.  He  caused 
new  streets  to  be  opened  in  every  direction  across 
the  fields,  which  the  good  people  of  Elsingburgh 
avoided  in  dry  weather  on  account  of  the  dust, 
and  in  wet,  on  account  of  the  mud.  Thus  the  fine 
grassy  lawns,  and  rich  fields,  that  whilom  yielded 
a  golden  harvest  of  grain,  were  cut  up  and  laid 
waste,  to  wait  till  the  village  should  grow  over 
them.  The  unlucky  proprietors  were  in  this  way, 
as  it  were,  cut  with  a  two-edged  sword ;  they  were 
obliged  to  pay  for  these  improvements,  and  at  the 
same  time  lost  the  products  of  their  fields.  But 
the  masterpiece  of  Langfanger's  policy  was  that  of 
pulling  down  an  old  market,  and  building  a  new 
one  in  another  part  of  the  village,  in  the  manage 
ment  of  which  business  he  is  supposed  to  have  laid 
down  the  first  principles  of  the  great  and  thriving 
science  of  political  economy,  or  picking  people's 
pockets  on  a  great  scale.  He  caused  the  people 
living  near  the  old  market  to  pay  roundly  for  its 
removal  as  a  nuisance  ;  and  then  he  caused  the 
people  that  lived  about  where  the  new  one  was  to 
be  built,  to  pay  roundly  for  the  vast  pleasure  and 
advantage  of  its  neighbourhood.  Thus  he  pinched 

VOL.  II H  2 


78  KONINGSMARKE. 

them  through  both  ears,  and  got  the  reputation  of 
a  great  financier. 

There  was  muckle  scratching  of  heads  at  El- 
singburgh,  and  serious  complaints  made  to  the 
governor ;  but  that  good  man  paid  little  or  no  at 
tention  either  to  his  own  wants  or  to  those  of  his 
people.  He  was,  indeed,  desolate  and  forlorn. 
The  Dominie  now  seldom  came  near  him,  because 
he  refused  to  be  comforted  by  his  assurances  that 
the  loss  of  his  only  child  was  a  great  blessing,  if 
properly  considered ;  aunt  Edith  was  quite  elevated 
above  the  world  and  all  things  in  it,  save  the  meet 
ing  of  the  elect  &  societies,  love-feasts,  and  the 
like.  She  held  such  bereavements  as  the  loss  of 
children,  parents,  friends,  and  brothers,  as  trifles 
which  affected  none  save  the  worldly-minded,  the 
chosen  vessels  of  wrath  ;  and  considered  the  per 
formance  of  domestic  duties  as  among  the  filthiest 
of  those  filthy  rags,  miscalled  good  works.  Nay, 
the  veritable  Bombie  of  the  Frizzled  Head,  al 
though  she  continued  duteously  to  serve  up  the 
favourite  dish  of  pepperpot  at  supper  time,  obsti 
nately  refused  to  sympathize  with  him  in  the  ex 
tremity  of  his  sorrows. 

"  Ah !  if  my  poor  lost  Christina  were  here,"  would 
he  sometimes  exclaim,  when  any  little  string  was 
touched  that  brought  her  loss  home  to  him — "  ah  ! 
if  she  were  here,  I  should  not  be  left  thus  alone. 
But  what  is  an  old  man  like  me,  without  the  tender 
and  duteous  ministrations  of  a  virtuous  daughter? 


KONINGSMARKE.  79 

he  is  a  trunk,  whose  roots  are  decayed — whose 
branches  are  blighted — whose  heart,  hollow  and 
decayed,  is  only  the  refuge  of  the  worm  that  never 
dies.  Snow  Ball,  witch,  devil,  whatever  thou  art, 
tell  me,  dost  thou  think  I  shall  ever  see  my  poor 
Christina  more  ?" 

"  I  have  seen  what  I  have  seen — I  know  what 
I  know." 

"  Well,  well,"  impatiently  rejoined  the  Heer ; 
"  I  suppose  you  do ;  most  people  can  say  that  of 
themselves.  But  hast  thou  seen,  and  dost  thou 
know,  more  than  other  people  ?  Answer  me,  house 
keeper  of  Satan — dost  thou  think  we  shall  ever 
meet  again  ?" 

"  There — perhaps,"  replied  the  Frizzled  Head, 
pointing  her  horn-headed  stick  towards  the  blue 
sky,  that  was  studded  with  stars,  among  which  the 
new  crescent  of  the  moon  held  its  course,  like  a 
bark  of  pearl  in  a  sea  of  azure — "  there,  where 
the  purified  spirit  finds  its  last  serene  abode — or" 
— dropping  her  stick  to  point  to  the  earth — "  there, 
where" 

"  Away,  thou  screeching  day-owl,"  interrupted 
the  Heer ;  "  blasted  be  the  heart  that  conceived, 
the  breath  that  shall  utter  such  a  prophecy  !  Why, 
I — I  indeed  have  sometimes  soiled  my  immortal 
spirit  with  the  stain  of  worldly  sins ;  but  she — Oh  ! 
she  was  pure  as  the  flake  of  snow  in  its  midway 
flight  from  the  Heavens,  ere  it  reaches  this  contami 
nated  earth ;  she  was" 


80  KONINGSMARKE. 

"  Ay,  Heer,  she  was — and  which  of  us,  in  look 
ing  back,  cannot  put  our  finger  on  the  point  of  time 
when  we  too  were  innocent  ?  Months  have  passed 
away,  since  thy  daughter  left  thee,  but  in  less  time 
than  that,  according  to  thy  book  of  faith,  the  angels 
lost  their  place  in  Heaven  ;  a  third  part  of  the  stars 
that  glittered  around  the  throne  of  Him  who  made 
us  all,  black,  red,  and  white,  alike,  tumbled  to  the 
earth — ay,  lower  than  the  earth — into  the  bottom 
less  gulf;  he  who  was  called  the  Son  of  the  Morning, 
fell  among  the  rest,  and  foremost  of  them  all.  Wilt 
thou  say,  then,  that  because  thy  daughter  was  pure 
and  innocent  months  ago,  she  must  of  necessity  be 
so  still?" 

"  Pestilent  imp  of  darkness,  seed  of  sulphur, 
scourge  of  my  blasted  hopes,  torturer  of  my  bro 
ken  heart,"  cried  the  Heer,  "  be  silent,  or  tell  me 
what  thou  really  knowest  of  my  lost  child." 

"  I  know,"  replied  the  Frizzled  Head,  "  that  she 
still  lives,  for  had  she  died,  I  should  have  seen  and 
spoken  with  her,  ere  her  body  had  passed  into  the 
tomb.  I  know  she  lives,  but  that  is  all  I  know. 
Whether  thou  wilt  ever  see  her,  here  or  hereafter, 
I  cannot  tell ;  and  if  I  cannot,  none  other  can  ;  for 
I  have  seen  what  I  have  seen — I  know  what  I 
know.  I  saw  thy  child  carried  like  a  lamb  from 
its  fold,  in  company  with  the  wolf  that  seeks  to 
devour  her ;  I  warned  him  by  the  memory  of  the 
past,  the  hope  of  the  future  ;  I  adjured  him  by  the 
fate  of  the  mother,  by  the  kindness  of  the  father, 


KONINGSMARKE.  81 

the  affection  of  the  daughter,  by  all  that  good  men 
hold  sacred  and  villains  scorn,  to  be  unto  her  a  true 
and  watchful  shepherd :  he  appealed  to  Heaven  he 
would.  But  if  man  is  a  wolf  to  man,  what  is  he 
to  woman  ?  At  first,  the  cringing  slave,  and  next 
the  unfeeling  tyrant." 

"  But,  shall  I  see  her  again  before  I  die  ?"  reit 
erated  the  Heer,  who,  in  the  weakness  of  sorrow, 
sought  to  wring  from  the  Frizzled  Head,  even  what 
he  would  not  dare  to  believe  when  it  was  uttered. 

"  The  revolving  sun  often  brings  every  thing 
back  to  where  it  was  before.  Thou  mayest,  per 
haps,  see  her  again ;  she  may  one  day  come  to  thee, 
when  she  hath  forgotten  herself  and  her  parent ; 
when  time,  and  hardships,  and  the  example  of  those 
around  her,  have  worn  out  all  traces  of  thy  gentle, 
delicate  and  duteous  daughter.  She  may  return 
with  a  painted  face,  and  limbs  dilated  into  a  clumsy 
magnitude,  by  toil  and  exposure  to  the  wintry 
winds,  and  the  labours  which  brutal  man  puts  on 
our  sex,  when  neither  honour  nor  shame  restrains 
his  wanton  tyranny ;  she  may  come  with  a  pa 
poose  !" 

"  Hence !"  burst  forth  the  almost  maddened  Heer ; 
"hence,  wholesale  dealer  in  the  devil's  haber 
dashery  ;  away  1  offspring  of  wrath  and  fire ; 
drown  thyself  in  the  river,  hang  thyself  on  the 
highest  tree  of  the  forest,  or  rather  live,  and  waste 
away  thy  black  and  blasted  flesh  in  tortures,  such 


82  KONINGSMARKE. 

as  thou  hast  inflicted  upon  a  poor  childless  old  man 
-—begone,  and  der  teufel  hole  dich" 

This  was  the  first  time  the  Heer  had  relapsed 
into  High  Dutch  since  the  loss  of  Christina,  and,  if 
the  truth  were  known,  it  is  believed  the  Frizzled 
Head  purposely  provoked  him  in  this  manner,  that 
he  might  sometimes  forget  his  daughter  in  rage 
against  his  slave.  But  she  failed  in  her  object. 
The  anger  of  the  master  was  momentary ;  the 
grief  of  the  father  was  without  end. 


KONINGSMARKE*  83 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"Were  it  not  that  I  pity  the  multitude  of  printers,  these 
chapters  had  never  been  written.  But  besides,  I  find  it  neces 
sary  to  refresh  my  dulness  every  day  by  eating,  for,  by'r  lady, 
Minerva  loves  the  larder." 

AFTER  a  conversation  similar  to  that  recorded 
in  the  last  chapter,  the  Heer  seated  himself  discon 
solately  in  his  old  arm-chair,  and  was  silently  and 
sorrowfully  contemplating  a  picture,  representing 
his  little  daughter  Christina,  then  about  a  year  old, 
nestling  on  the  bosom  of  her  mother,  now  no  more. 
As  a  specimen  of  art,  the  picture  was  not  worth 
a  stiver ;  but  the  Heer  would  not  have  parted  with 
it  for  the  whole  wealth  of  his  territory,  for  it  was 
almost  the  only  memorial,  save  that  which  he  car 
ried  in  his  old  broken  heart,  of  the  two  beings  he 
had  loved  better  than  all  the  world  besides.  While 
thus  seated,  the  good  man  communed  with  his 
heart,  in  something  like  the  following  soliloquy: 

"  Ah  !  wife  of  my  bosom,  and  daughter  of  my 
heart's  blood,  ye  are  gone  from  me,  though  in  the 
common  course  of  nature,  I  should  rather  have 
departed  before  you.  Where  are  ye  now,  my 
companion  in  youth,  my  solace  in  old  age  ?  The  one 
is  a  saint  in  Heaven — but  the  other !  my  sprightly, 
kind-hearted,  duteous  daughter !  Her  eyes,  the 
colour  of  Heaven,  are  long  ere  this  closed  in  dark- 


84 


KONINGSMARRE. 


ness ;  her  cheeks,  the  colour  of  the  rose,  are  clay- 
cold  and  blanched  now — the  prey  of  sorrow,  and 
the  worm.  Or  perhaps  she  still  lives,  a  wretched 
outcast  of  the  woods,  the  companion  of  wild  beasts, 
the  slave  of  men  wilder  than  they  ;  shut  out  from 
her  customary  society,  deprived  of  the  solace  of 
parental  affection,  and  robbed  of  all  that  makes 
existence  aught  but  a  weary  burden,  a  weight  that 
crushes  the  elastic  spirit  to  the  earth,  and  points  it 
to  the  grave  as  its  only  refuge.  My  daughter ! 
my  only,  my  beloved  child  !" 

As  the  Heer  thus  indulged  himself  in  melancholy 
ponderings,  his  attention  was  called  off  by  a  distant 
noise,  that  came  to  his  ear  like  the  shouts  of  joyful 
exultation.  He  listened,  but  again  all  was  silent. 
What  can  it  mean  thought  he.  But  the  thought 
was  only  momentary,  and  he  sunk  into  his  usual 
train  of  dark  and  dismal  contemplation.  Again 
the  shout  was  repeated,  still  nearer,  by  the  noisy 
tongues  of  the  village  train,  whose  unladen  spirits 
were  ever  ready  to  seize  occasions  for  noise  and 
jollity.  Nearer,  and  still  nearer,  came  the  rout, 
until  at  length  the  attention  of  the  Heer  was  roused 
by  something  which  struck  upon  his  heart  like  a 
repetition  of  Christina's  name.  He  started  up, 
and,  hurrying  with  faltering  steps  to  the  window, 
beheld,  a  little  way  off,  a  crowd  of  people,  in  the 
midst  of  which  seemed  to  be  a  tall,  stately  figure, 
mounted  on  horseback,  with  something  that  looked 
like  a  woman  seated  behind  him.  The  waning 


KONINGSMARKE.  85 

lamp  of  his  aged  eyes  would  not  permit  him  to 
distinguish  any  more.  Yet — and  the  hope  glanced 
upon  his  heart  like  lightning — yet,  if  it  should  be 
her,  returning  at  last  to  his  arms !  As  the  eye, 
when  long  accustomed  to  darkness,  shuts  close  its 
lids  at  the  slightest  ray  of  light,  so  does  the  mortal 
spirit,  weakened  by  age,  long-suffering,  melancholy 
thoughts,  and  dark  forebodings,  become  overpow 
ered  by  the  first  ray  of  hope  that  glances  into  its 
gloomy  recesses.  It  often  happens,  too,  that  the 
ardent  desire  to  realize  a  darling  hope,  is  checked 
by  an  apprehension  that  certainty,  instead  of  lead 
ing  to  fruition,  will  only  lead  to  disappointment. 
To  minds  naturally  weak,  or  weakened  by  long- 
suffering,  uncertainty  is  less  painful  than  to  know 
the  worst. 

From  one  or  both  these  causes,  the  good  Heer, 
instead  of  going  forth  to  learn  the  truth,  returned 
trembling  to  his  chair,  and  there  sat  waiting,  al 
most  in  a  state  of  insensibility,  the  approach  of  the 
crowd. 

"  My  father  !  where,  where  is  he  ?"  exclaimed 
a  voice  that  went  to  the  innermost  soul  of  the  old 
man,  who  sat  riveted  to  his  chair,  without  the 
power  of  speech  or  motion.  A  moment  after,  a 
figure  rushed  in  and  threw  herself  at  his  feet,  kissed 
his  hands,  and  wept  upon  them. 

"  My  father,  hast  thou  forgotten  Christina, — or, 
Oh !  heavenly  powers  !  perhaps  he  has  forgotten 
himself !  speak  to  me,  dear  father,  or  kiss  me,  or 

VOL.  II — I 


86  KONINGSMARKE. 

press  my  hand — Oh,  do  something  to  show  thou 
rememberest  and  lovest  thy  child." 

The  Heer  pressed  her  hand,  in  token  that  he 
had  not  forgotten  his  daughter,  but  it  was  some 
minutes  before  he  became  sufficiently  recovered 
to  take  her  to  his  bosom,  weep  over,  and  bless  her. 
When  he  did,  the  scene  was  so  moving,  that  the 
spectators  shed  tears  of  sympathy ;  and  even  the 
dry  and  parched  cheeks  of  Shadrach  Moneypenny 
exhibited  indications  of  moisture. 

"  But  you  must  thank  my  deliverers,"  said  Chris 
tina,  when  the  first  strong  feelings  of  joy  had  sub 
sided. 

"  And  who  are  they  ?"  answered  the  Heer, 
wiping  his  eyes  and  looking  round.  "Ah!  Long 
Finne,  art  thou  there?  I  dare  almost  swear  thou 
hadst  a  hand  in  my  daughter's  preservation :  come 
hither  boy,  thou  art  thrice  welcome.  Is  it  not  so, 
Christina  ?" 

"  I  owe  my  life  to  him,"  replied  Christina,  "but 
not  my  liberty,  father." 

"  To  whom  then  ?  if  he  is  present,  I  will  hug 
him  in  my  arms  ;  if  absent,  I  will  seek  him  through 
the  world  but  I  will  thank  him ;  if  he  be  poor,  I 
will  make  him  rich ;  if  he  be  rich,  he  shall  have 
my  everlasting  gratitude.  Stand  forth,  whoever 
thou  art ;  the  guilty  are  not  ashamed  of  their  evil 
deeds — why  should  the  virtuous  blush  for  theirs  ?" 

The  stiff  and  upright  form  of  Shadrach  Money- 
penny  now  advanced  with  measured  steps  towards 


KONINGSMARKE.  87 

the  Heer,  who,  on  perceiving  it  approaching,  started 
up,  and  hugged  Shadrach,  with  such  good- will,  that 
the  head  of  the  governor  actually  dislodged  the 
hat  of  the  other,  and  it  fell  to  the  floor.  Shadrach 
stooped  down  with  great  deliberation,  and,  picking 
up  the  hat,  placed  it  on  his  head  and  said — 

"  Take  notice,  friend  Piper,  I  pulled  not  off  mine 
own  hat,  in  reference  to  thy  dignity,  or  that  of  thy 
master,  the  bloody-minded  man,  who  carrieth  the 
gospel  of  peace  upon  the  incarnadined  point  of  his 
sword.  It  fell  by  accident,  verily." 

"  Be  it  so,"  returned  the  Heer;  "  thou  shalt  wear 
thy  beaver  in  the  presence  of  kings,  nay,  of  the 
king  of  kings,  if  thou  likest,  my  noble  benefactor, 
to  whom  I  owe  more  than  I  can  ever  pay." 

"  I  am  not  thy  benefactor,  friend  Piper,"  quoth 
Shadrach,  "  and  thou  owest  me  no  more  than  that 
good-will  which  we  are  enjoined  to  bear  towards 
all  our  neighbours.  What  I  have  done  was  by  the 
command,  (or  rather,  at  the  request)  of  William 
Penn,  (for  we  obey  no  orders  from  any  man,  or 
body  of  men,  except  we  list,)  who  sent  me  forth 
with  into  the  wilderness,  with  store  of  glass  beads, 
tobacco,  and  the  like,  to  redeem  thy  daughter,  to 
gether  with  him  they  call  the  Long  Finne  ;  likewise 
friend  Dotterel,  commonly  denominated  among  the 
aboriginals  the  Jumping  Sturgeon  ;  and  lastly,  the 
coloured  lad,  bearing  the  heathen  appellative  of 
Cupid,  the  which  I  do  entreat  thee  as  a  partic 
ular  favour,  to  have  christened  over  again,  in 


88  KONINGSMARKE. 

which  case  I  will  accord  myself  to  stand  god 
father." 

"  Well,  then,"  replied  the  Heer,  "  I  shall  be 
think  myself  of  some  means  worthily  and  magnifi 
cently  to  reward  both  the  good  William  Penn  and 
all  those  who  have  been  the  instruments  of  his 
benevolence  in  the  redemption  of  my  dear  child, 
whose  return  to  my  bosom  is  as  the  warmth  of 
spring  to  the  torpid  animals  of  the  forest." 

"  William  Penn  wants  no  rewards,  neither  do 
I,"  quoth  Shadrach.  "  When  he  despatched  me 
forth  into  the  wilderness,  and  I  departed  in  accord 
ance  with  his  wishes,  it  was  not  as  if  on  an  expe 
dition  of  trade  or  profit.  We  will  exchange  with 
thee  good  offices,  but  we  cannot  sell  them." 

"  Well,  but,  der  teufel"  replied  the  Heer,  a  little 
ruffled— 

"  Swear  not  all,"  interrupted  Shadrach — "friend 
Piper,  swear  not  at  all.  And,  now  I  bethink  me, 
if  thou  wishest  to  exhibit  thy  gratitude  to  William 
Penn,  or  me,  his  chosen  vessel,  let  it  be  in  the  utter 
abandonment  of  that  unseemly  custom,  which,  I 
am  aggrieved  to  say,  savours  of  the  company  and 
good-fellowship  of  Satan  and  his  imps." 

At  any  other  time,  this  sally  of  Shadrach  would 
have  brought  the  wrath  of  the  Heer  upon  him,  in 
a  great  tempest  of  expletives  ;  but  now  he  had  got 
his  daughter's  hand  in  his,  while  she  herself  was 
seated  on  the  little  stool,  which  whilom  supported 
his  gouty  foot,  and  felt  so  happy  at  the  moment, 


KONINGSMARKE.  89 

that  he  had  neither  room  nor  words  for  any  other 
feeling. 

"  Say,  then,"  said  he  at  length,  in  reply  to  Sha- 
drach's  exhortation — "  say  that  I  will  come  myself, 
and  thank  him  for  having  restored  tome  my  child; 
and  think  to  thyself  that  I  will  never  forget  thy 
good  offices." 

"  I  will  so  say,"  rejoined  Shadrach.  "And  now, 
albeit  I  have  finished  my  mission,  and  done  the 
bidding  (or  rather  the  request)  of  William  Penn, 
I  will  essay  my  return  from  whence  I  came.  Fare 
well,  friend  Piper — swear  not  at  all." 

Shadrach  then  shook  hands  with  the  governor, 
the  Long  Finne,  and  the  likely  fellow  Cupid,  whom 
he  exhorted  to  take  to  himself  a  new  name,  of 
Christian  seemliness.  He  also  looked  about  for  the 
Jumping  Sturgeon,  who,  however,  was  found  want 
ing,  being  at  that  time  busily  employed  in  keeping 
order  among  his  old  enemies,  the  roistering  urchins 
of  Elsingburgh.  The  spirit  then  moved  Shadrach 
Money  penny  to  approach  the  fair  Christina,  which 
he  did  with  great  gallantry,  his  beaver  being  up  in 
front. 

"Maiden,"  quoth  Shadrach,  "humph!  verily 
thou  art  fair,  and  comely  therewithal :  I  will  shake 
hands  with  thee  for  old  acquaintance  sake.  Ver 
ily,  humph — I  say  again  thou  art  exceeding  fair 
and  comely:  I  will  salute  thee,  maiden,  being 
thereunto  moved  by  having  sojourned  with  thee  in 
the  wilderness.  Verily,  humph — I  say  a  third 

VOL.  II 1  2 


90  KONINGSMARKE. 

time,  maiden,  thou  art  altogether  and  without  equal 
fair  and  comely  ;  I  will  embrace  thee  in  the  spirit, 
being  thereunto  moved  by" — 

But  Shadrach,  as  he  opened  his  arms  to  carry 
into  execution  his  sober  wishes,  like  another  Ixion, 
embraced  a  cloud.  Christina  had  taken  advantage 
of  his  habit  of  elevating  his  eyes  to  the  ceiling,  to 
slip  away,  unperceived  by  the  good  man,  who, 
without  the  least  appearance  of  being  ruffled  and 
disquieted  at  the  disappointment,  gravely  observed 
that  the  maiden  was  over  bashful.  He  then  turned 
himself  as  on  a  pivot,  and  departed  amid  the  grate 
ful  thanks  of  all,  save  the  Long  Finne,  who  never 
forgave  Shadrach  the  sin  of  having  touched  the 
red  lip  of  Christina. 


KONINGSMARKE.  91 


CHAPTER  V. 

"  Most  heart-commanding  faced  gentlewoman,  even  as  the 
stone  in  India  called  basilinus  hurts  all  that  look  on  it,  and  as 
the  serpent  in  Arabia  called  smaragdus  delighteth  the  sight,  so 
does  thy  celestial,  orb-assimilating  eyes  both  please,  and,  pleas 
ing,  pain  my  love-darted  heart." 

Euphues,  and  his  England. 

WHEN  Shadrach  Moneypenny  had  gathered 
himself  together,  and  departed  for  Coaquanock,  the 
Heer  and  his  little  party,  being  left  alone,  drew 
into  a  circle,  and  began  to  compare  notes  one  with 
another.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  pleasing  results 
of  the  meeting  of  long  separated  friends  is  this 
mutual  interchange  of  the  relations  of  past  events. 
Our  little  self-love  is  gratified  in  telling  all  that  has 
happened  to  us,  and  our  curiosity,  perhaps  a  better 
feeling,  feasted  with  the  chronicle  of  what  has 
befallen  others.  Alternately  the  hero  and  the 
auditor  of  these  domestic  legends,  each  one  enjoys 
a  temporary  hour  of  supremacy,  and  all  are  pleased, 
because  all  have  their  turn  in  talking.  The  happy 
Heer,  seated  between  his  daughter  and  the  Long 
Finne,  holding  a  hand  of  the  former,  questioned,  and 
answered,  and  listened,  and  talked,  like  a  boy  ;  for 
the  return  of  his  darling  had  made  him  feel  young 
again. 

The  party  consisted  only  of  the  three,  with  the 
occasional  intrusion  of  the  Frizzled  Head,  and  her 


92  KONINGSMARKE. 

likely  grandson,  who,  under  various  pretences, 
went  and  came,  without  having  any  positive  errand 
to  justify  the  intrusion.  The  good  aunt  Edith  was, 
as  usual,  lying  a-bed,  too  sick  even  to  admit  of  a 
visit  from  her  niece,  which  she  feared  might  agitate 
her  so  much  that  she  would  not  be  able  to  attend 
a  prayer  meeting  on  the  ensuing  evening.  The 
worthy  Dominie  Kanttwell,  too,  was  either  en 
gaged,  or  pretended  to  be  so,  and  came  not  to 
congratulate  the  Heer  on  the  return  of  his  only 
child  from  captivity  among  the  wild  men  of  the 
woods.  Indeed,  it  was  shrewdly  suspected,  that 
the  good  man,  as  well  as  aunt  Edith,  were  both 
somewhat  mortified  at  the  failure  of  their  favourite 
doctrine  of  temporal  judgments,  on  this  occasion, 
as  exemplified  in  the  happy  return  of  Christina ; 
and  there  were  those  who  did  not  scruple  to  in 
sinuate,  that  the  Dominie  was  sorely  wounded  in 
spirit,  at  the  downfall  of  a  plan  for  benefiting  the 
church,  which  depended  on  the  absence  of  the  fair 
Christina. 

"  Ah  !  poor  Ludwig  !"  cried  the  Heer,  as  Kon- 
ingsmarke  related  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
cheated  the  savages  of  their  bloody  feast — "  ah  ! 
brave,  merry,  thoughtless  rogue  !  he  lived  only  for 
the  present  breath  he  drew,  and  thought  not  of  the 
next  moment,  much  less  of  the  morrow.  Jolly 
Varlett !  he  was  as  brave  as  the  great  Gustavus, 
not  to  mention  another  person,  whose  name  it 
would  not  become  me  to  utter,  being  that  self- 


KONINGSMARKE.  93 

praise  is  but  another  name  for  self-blame.  He  used 
to  say,  that  a  man  who  feared  not  what  the  present 
moment  could  bring,  yet  shrunk  from  the  next,  was 
like  a  superstitious  blockhead,  that  would  wrestle 
with  flesh  and  blood,  and  run  away  from  his  own 
shadow.  Honest  Wolfgang  Langfanger  and  he 
could  never  agree,  for  Wolfgang  thought  nothing 
of  the  present,  I  mean  in  a  worldly  point  of  view, 
while  Ludwig  held,  that  in  the  firm  of  past,  present, 
and  future,  the  first  and  the  last  were  little  more 
than  sleeping  partners.  Ah !  pleasant,  merry 
Varlett !  would  I  could  hear  him  sing  again  !  But 
now,"  continued  the  Heer,  addressing  himself  to 
Koningsmarke — "  now  tell  me  about  thyself.  How 
didst  thou  live,  and  how  did  my  poor  little  girl  en 
dure  the  savage  thraldom — hey  ?  Thy  hand  is  not 
so  soft  nor  so  white  as  it  used  to  be,  my  daughter," 
said  he,  as  he  pressed  it  tenderly  in  his  own. 

This  led  to  a  recapitulation  of  the  events  detailed 
in  our  preceding  chapters,  in  which  Christina  and 
Koningsmarke,  alternating,  related  their  dangers 
and  sufferings,  omitting  certain  scenes,  only  in 
teresting  to  the  performers.  The  Heer  alternately 
laughed  and  wept.  As  they  related  the  adventures 
of  Lob  Dotterel's  wig,  and  the  adoption  of  that 
trusty  officer  into  the  tribe  of  the  Muskrats,  he  in 
dulged  in  bursts  of  merriment,  and  ever  after  called 
him  by  the  name  of  the  Jumping  Sturgeon.  The 
sufferings  of  his  child  melted  his  heart ;  and  when 
she  told  him  of  the  kindness  of  little  Aouetti,  the 


94  KONINGSMARKE. 

Deer  Eyes,  he  declared  his  determination  to  have 
her  sought  out,  and  brought  to  Elsingburgh,  that 
he  might  reward  her  by  the  affection  of  a  father, 
for  her  goodness  to  his  daughter.  Christina,  how 
ever,  for  some  reason  or  other,  which,  as  she  did 
not  avow,  we  should  hold  ourselves  guilty  of  be 
traying  her  confidence  if  we  disclosed,  did  not 
second  this  motion,  and  the  good  Heer  was  too 
happy  to  notice  her  apparent  indifference  to  her 
adopted  sister. 

"  And  now,"  exclaimed  the  Heer,  when  they 
had  finished  the  relation  of  their  adventures — "and 
now,  Koningsmarke,  my  dear  son,  for  such  thou 
hast  been  to  me,  tell  me  how  I  may  best  reward 
thee,  for  having  saved  the  life  of  my  child,  and 
watched  over  her  safety  in  the  desolate  wilderness. 
I  have  wealth,  more  than  enough  for  my  wants, 
speak,  and  as  much  of  it  is  thine  as  shall  place 
thee  above  the  world." 

Koningsmarke  replied  not,  but  shook  his  head, 
and  looked  at  Christina. 

"  No  ?"  said  the  good  Heer,  answering  his  look 
and  shake  of  the  head,  "  No  ?  thou  art  proud,  then, 
and  disdainest  to  be  repaid  for  thy  kindness  to  an 
old  man  and  his  daughter,  with  money.  But  re 
member,  I  am  at  least  thy  debtor  for  a  handful  of 
Mark  Newby's  halfpence,"  added  he,  smiling. 

"  Money  cannot  repay  me  for  what  I  have  done 
for  thy  daughter,"  rejoined  Koningsmarke,  with  an 
air  and  tone  of  melancholy  pride. 


KONINGSMARKE.  95 

"No?  Der  teufel!  but— what?  thou boldest  thy 
favours  above  all  price  then  ?" 

"  None  think  less  than  I  do  of  what  I  have  done 
for  others :  what  others  do  for  me,  is  a  different 
affair." 

"  Well,  then,  I  have  some  influence  with  the 
great  Gustavus,  who,  no  doubt,  remembers  the 
good  service  I  did  him,  in  taking  a  corporal's  guard. 
I  will  use  it  in  thy  behalf,  and  entreat  him,  as  I  am 
old  and  feeble,  and  wish  for  retirement,  to  appoint 
thee  my  successor  in  the  government  of  New 
Swedeland — hey  ?" 

The  Long  Finne  again  shook  his  head,  and  was 
silent. 

"  What !  then,  du  galgen  schivenkel?  exclaimed 
the  Heer,  waxing  wroth  apace — "  what !  then  thou 
disdainest  my  friendship,  and  contemnest  my  grati 
tude  ?  Hark  ye,  henckers  knecht,  be  pleased  to 
comprehend,  that  I  hold  when  a  man  refuses  to 
be  repaid  for  the  favours  he  confers,  he  cancels 
the  obligation.  Look  ye,  Long  Finne — am  I  not 
old  enough  to  be  thy  father  ?  am  I  not  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  great  Gustavus  ?  am  I  not  obliged 
to  thee  for  the  safety  of  my  only  child  ?  'Sfoot, 
sir — and  dost  thou  dare  to  tell  me,  thus  to  my  face, 
that  it  is  not  thy  pleasure  to  be  rewarded  ?  Now 
mark  me,  youngster — either  name  thy  reward,  or 
fight  me  to-morrow  morning  with  good  broad 
swords.  I'll  teach  thee  to  encumber  me  with  a 
load  of  gratitude  sufficient  to  smother  Shadrach 


96  KONINGSMARKE. 

Moneypenny's  great  horse,  and  then  refuse  to 
assist  me  in  getting  rid  of  it.  Come,  stripling,  name 
thy  reward,  or  shalt  smoke  for  it  to-morrow." 

Koningsmarke  dropped  on  his  knee,  and,  taking 
the  hand  of  Christina,  pressed  it  to  his  lips  and 
his  heart. 

"  I  deserve  her  not — I  ask  her  not — I  dare  not 
ask  you  for  her.  But,  Oh  !  Heer — if  she  owes  her 
life  to  me,  as  well  as  to  thee — if  I  have  watched, 
and  toiled,  and  fought  for  her — if  I  have  borne  her 
in  my  arms,  when  her  own  limbs  refused  to  sup 
port  her,  through  the  irksome  wilderness — if  I  have 
been  to  her  as  a  brother,  to  you  as  a  son — think 
what  I  could  wish — not  what  I  ask,  or  deserve  as 
a  recompense — the  only  recompense  you  can  be 
stow,  or  I  accept." 

"  What !  henckers  knecht — my  daughter,  hey  ? 
By  the  glory  of  the  immortal  champion,  Gustavus, 
but  that  is  indeed  cancelling  the  obligation !  Thou 
first  gavest  me  my  daughter,  and  now  thou  wilt 
take  her  away  again.  Thou  wouldst  rob  me  of 
the  treasure  thou  hast  just  found  and  restored 
to  me  ?" 

"  Not  rob  thee,  Heer ;  I  would  wish  to  double 
the  blessing,  by  adding  to  the  solace  of  a  daughter's 
tender  ministry,  the  support  of  a  duteous,  grateful 
son." 

"  And  thou  wouldst  not  ask  her  to  abandon  her 
poor  old  father  ?" 

"  No — we  would  live  and  die  with  thee.     Thy 


KONINGSMARKE.  »7 

house  should  be  our  home  ;  and,  if  it  so  pleased 
Heaven,  our  graves  should  be  close  to  thine." 

"  Sayest  thou,  coward !  ha  !  thou  hadst  rather 
marry,  then,  than  meet  my  old  rusty  broadsword  ? 
well,  thou  art  a  prudent  young  stripling  after  all. 
Christina,  hast  got  a  fever,  for  within  these  last 
fifteen  minutes,  thy  pulse  hath  risen  to  a  truly 
alarming  pitch  ?  Christina,  what  shall  I  say  to  this 
worthy  lad,  who  so  well  understandeth  the  value 
of  his  services?  truly,  honest  Finne,  thou  shalt  be 
made  superintendent  of  the  Indian  trade,  being  as 
thou  so  well  comprehendest  the  mysteries  of  bar 
gaining." 

If  a  young  woman  can  possibly  be  brought  to 
say  yes,  to  such  a  question  as  that  of  the  Heer,  it 
must  be  when  she  is  alone  with  the  person  that 
asks  it,  unless  we  are  mistaken  in  our  recollection 
of  the  pure  and  delicate  Dan  Cupid,  that  whilom 
used  to  fan  the  flame  of  love  in  female  hearts. 
Christina  replied  not. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Heer, "  silence  gives  consent. 
Thou  art  no  true  woman,  Christina,  if  thou  art  not 
ready  to  devote  thyself  to  the  wishes  of  one,  who 
gave  thee  life,  and  of  that  good-looking  youth  who 
hath  preserved  it  more  than  once.  Here,  Long 
Finne,  here  is  her  hand  ;  if  she  dissents,  she  has 
only  to  signify  as  much  by  withdrawing  it." 

Christina  did  not  withdraw  her  hand,  although 
her  pale  cheek,  and  trembling  frame,  bore  testi 
mony  that  though  she  gave  herself  to  Konings- 

VOL.  II — K 


08  KONINGSMARKE. 

marke,  it  was  not  with  that  ample  trust,  that  bound 
less  confidence,  that  measureless  hope,  with  which 
the  ardent,  inexperienced  maid  so  often  throws 
herself,  her  virtues,  her  wealth,  and  her  beauty 
into  the  bosom  of  man. 

"  This  day  shall  be  kept  as  the  happiest  of  my 
life,"  cried  the  Heer.  "  It  is — yes,  it  is  the  day 
I  was  married,  the  day  of  thy  birth,  Christina  ;  the 
day  too  in  which  Heaven  gave  thee  to  me  a  second 
time,  that  I  might  secure  thy  happiness  by  giving 
thee  to  one  whom  Providence  made  the  instrument 
of  thy  preservation.  Blessed  be  this  day  !" 

"It  is  the  day  of  thy  wife's  death, too !"  exclaimed 
the  Frizzled  Head,  who  wTas  always  flitting  about 
like  the  bird  of  night,  and  always  croaking.  "  It  is 
the  day  of  thy  wife's  death  ;  thy  wife,  who,  if  she 
could  at  this  blessed  moment  lift  the  shroud  and 
come  among  you,  would  hold  up  her  bloodless 
hand,  and  shriek  in  ghostly  accents  against  this 
unhappy  union  ;  forbidden  by  the  memory  of  the 
past,  the  auguries  of  the  future.  I,  that  know  what 
thou,  Heer,  knowest  not — I,  that  have  seen  what 
thou  didst  not  see,  I  tell  thee,  Heer,  I  tell  thee, 
weak  maiden,  and,"  holding  up  her  withered  finger 
in  scorn,  to  Koningsmarke,  "  I  tell  thee,  that  rathe 
than  this  accursed  marriage  shall  take  place,  I  will 
say  what  shall  blast  thy  purpose  and  send  thee 
wandering  again  to  another  new  world,  if  such 
there  be.  Better  be  dead  than  wedded  thus." 

"  Housekeeper  of  Satan  !"  answered  the  Heer, 


KONINGSMARKE.  99 

"avaunt,  fly,  skip — herald  of  wrath  and  abom 
ination  !  When  was  it  that  I  was  ever  inclined 
to  be  merry,  that  thou  didst  not  essay  to  turn  my 
gayety  into  gloomy  forebodings  ?  when  did  I  ever 
open  my  heart  to  the  memory  of  past,  or  the  an 
ticipation  of  future  happiness,  that  thou  earnest  not, 
like  the  raven,  to  croak  me  into  fancied  misery  ? 
when  did  the  sun  shine  ever  warm  on  my  heart, 
that  thou  didst  not  come  and  freeze  it  stiff  and  cold? 
Away,  and  howl  in  churchyards,  at  midnight; 
scream  into  the  ear  of  guilt  thy  accursed  maledic 
tions.  Be  silent  with  that  eternal  clapper  of  thine, 
or  speak  to  be  understood,  or" — 

"  I  do  howl  in  the  ears  of  guilt,  and  I  speak  to 
be  understood  by  those  I  wish  to  understand  me. 
Those  now  hear  me,  who  know  full  well  what  I 
mean,  yet  dare  to  despise  my  warnings ;  who 
would  rush  into  each  other's  arms,  even  though 
the  grave  of  a  mother  lay  between  them  and  their 
desires  ;  who — but  the  time  is  not  yet  come,  that 
I  must  and  will  speak  out." 

"  Then,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  be  quiet  till 
then,  and  do  not  mar  this  happy  hour.  I  would 
thou  wert  silent,  even  as  the  grave  thou  speakest 
of;  for  thy  talking  is  worse  than  the  screech-owl, 
the  wolf,  and  the  Indian,  all  joining  in  concert  with 
the  midnight  storm.  How  is  it,  that  thou  wouldst 
mar  the  happiness  of  thy  master  and  young  mis 
tress?" 

"  I  mar  their  happiness !"  retorted  the  Snow 


100  KONINGSMARKE. 

Ball ;  "  I  seek  to  prevent  their  misery ;  to  save 
virtue  from  the  contamination  of  vice  ;  to  revenge 
the  death  of  her,  who,  of  all  thy  colour  and  thy 
race,  was  the  only  one  whose  kindness  to  me  was 
never  accompanied  by  insult — whose  benefits  were 
never  cancelled  by  capricious  tyranny.  Heer, 
why  do  I  take  an  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  thy 
household  ?  why  do  I  seek  thy  happiness  ?  It  is 
not  that  thou  art,  in  the  language  of  thy  haughty 
race,  my  master,  but  because  thou  wert  the  hus 
band  of  the  kindest  being  that  ever  breathed  the 
breath  of  life.  Daughter  of  my  mistress,  why  do 
I  watch  over  thy  welfare  ?  It  is  not  that  thou  art 
the  child  of  my  master,  and  I  thy  slave,  but  that 
she  was  thy  mother,  and  that  with  her  latest  breath 
she  besought  me  to  be  unto  thee  a  watchful  and 
devoted  servant,  to  see  that  no  harm  fell  upon  thy 
innocent  head.  Such  I  have  been — such  I  will  be, 
until  I  join  my  mistress,  where  I  may  be  permitted, 
though  black  as  ink,  to  say  to  her  snow-white  spirit, 
I  did  my  duty  to  her  at  least." 

"  The  yellow  plague  seize  thee,  thou  incompre 
hensible  riddle  of  darkness,"  cried  the  Heer.  "  Be 
gone,  for  I  swear  to  thee,  Snow  Ball,  the  Long 
Finne  shall  marry  my  daughter,  though  thou  talkest 
thyself  white  in  the  face.  To-morrow  shall  be  the 
day,  and  then,  when  I  have  secured  my  girl  a  pro 
tector  in  weal  and  wo,  in  storm  and  sunshine,  I  am 
ready  to  obey  that  call  which,  sooner  or  later, 
brings  all  mankind  to  their  last  muster.  Depart 


KONINGSMARKE.  101 

in  peace,  old  sinner,  and  hold  thy  peace,  if  such  a 
matter  be  possible." 

"I  go,"  replied  the  Frizzled  -Head,  without 
moving  a  step.  "  Heer  !  Heer  !  thou  wilt  remem 
ber,  when  I  am  dead,  in  sorrow  and  remorse,  that 
I  warned  thee,  yet  thou  wouldst  not  listen.  When 
the  storm  comes,  and  thou  and  thine  shall  be  laid 
low  in  the  dust,  thy  roots  bare.,  and  thy  branches 
broken,  like  the  trees  after  a  whirlwind,  then  thoa 
shalt  weep,  and  tear  thy  gray  hairs,  and  call  upon 
the  mountains  to  fall,  the  rocks  to  cover  thee  :  but 
it  will  be  vain.  Thou  shalt  invoke  death,  but  he 
will  not  come ;  thou  shalt  seek  the  grave,  but  it 
will  not  open  to  thee  ;  thou  shalt  live,  despairing, 
until  thy  legs  shall  refuse  to  carry  thee,  thy  hands 
to  lift  themselves  to  thy  head,  and  thy  mind  and 
body  become  those  of  the  helpless  infant." 

During  this  mysterious  colloquy,  Christina  had 
remained  speechless  and  motionless,  her  cold  and 
almost  lifeless  hand  grasped  in  that  of  Konings- 
marke,  who  himself  remained  silent,  as  if  overawed 
by  the  horrible  fluency  of  the  sable  prophetess. 
There  is  something  allied  to  the  sublime  in  futurity ; 
and  even  the  strongest  mind,  fortified  by  the  con* 
sciousness  of  innocence,  involuntarily  shrinks  when 
the  veil  is  withdrawn,  and  renders  the  homage  of 
its  fears,  where  it  refuses  that  of  its  faith. 

"  Daughter  of  the  kindest  mistress  that  ever  fell 
to  one  of  our  unhappy  race,"  resumed  Bombie  of 
the  Frizzled  Head,  addressing  Christina, "  wilt  thou 

VOL.  II K  2 


102  KONINGSMARKE. 

devote  thy  virtue,  thy  beauty,  thy  life,  to  this  man, 
who — " 

*  Who  twioe  £aved  mine,"  hastily  interrupted 
Christina ;  "I  am  bound  by  my  faith  to  do  so. 
When  we^  parted  never  expecting  to  meet  again; 
when  he  was  going  to  be  tortured  at  the  stake,  for 
having  sought  to  restore  me  to  my  father ;  and 
when  it  seemed  hardly  within  the  compass  or  the 
power  of  fate  to  restore  him  to  me,  or  me  to  my 
home,  I  promised  to  be  his,  if  we  ever  lived  to 
return  hither.  I  will  keep  my  word,  let  what  will 
follow ;  I  will  pay  the  debt  of  gratitude  I  owe 
him,  though  it  be  at  the  price  of  a  broken  heart,  a 
blasted  fame  ;  yea  !  even  though  my  mother's  spirit 
should — "  Here  the  poor  maiden  covered  her  face 
With  her  hands,  and  became  choked  with  her  rising 
emotions. 

"  Then  be  the  curse  of  thy  mother  on  thy  head, 
and  on  the  heads  of.  all  that  shall  be  born  of  thee, 
as  the  curse  of  Cain  was  upon  him  and  all  his  pos 
terity—" 

Here  Christina  uttered  a  shriek,  and  fell  insen 
sible  into  the  arms  of  her  father.  The  Heer  raved 
in  agony.  "  To-day,"  he  cried,  "  the  Lord  restored 
to  me  a  lost  child,  and  to-day,  ere  yet  I  had  kissed 
and  blessed  her,  thou — thou,  black  and  malignant 
devil,  hast  destroyed  her.  But  thou  shalt  pay  for 
this,  thou  and  all  thy  accursed  race." 

"  Better  thus — better  dead,  than  to  live  as  thou 
mayest  yet  live  to  see  her,  with  a  blighted  cheek,  a 


KONINGSMARKE.  103 

broken  heart,  and  a  conscience  gnawed,  morning, 
noon,  and  night,  sleeping  and  waking,  by  the  worm 
that  never  dies,"  replied  the  sibyl. 

What  more  she  would  have  said  was  inter 
rupted  by  the  intrusion  of  Lob  Dotterel,  followed 
by  a  number  of  the  villagers,  having  in  custody  the 
body  of  that  likely  fellow  Cupid.  Their  presence 
turned  the  current  of  Bombie's  feelings  into  another 
channel,  and  the  disclosures  that  followed  led  to 
consequences  which  will  be  related  in  the  succeed 
ing  chapters. 


BOOK  EIGHTH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Showing  that  there  is  as  much  reason  in  boiling  as  in  roasting  of 


IT  hath  been  aptly  and  truly  said,  that  "  there 
is  reason  in  the  roasting  of  an  egg."  But,  assu 
redly,  if  the  roasting  of  an  egg  to  please  every 
palate  requires  great  discretion,  the  boiling  of  one  is 
a  matter  of  much  more  difficult  attainment.  Some 
people  like  their  eggs  as  hard  as  a  bullet,  in  defi 
ance  of  that  mortal  foe  to  good  eating,  erewhile 
known  by  the  name  of  the  spleen,  afterward  chris 
tened  bile,  and  now  of  universal  acceptation,  as 
dyspepsia.  Others  will  have  their  eggs  raw,  or 
so  nearly  raw,  as  to  puzzle  human  reason  to  decide 
whether  they  are  raw  or  boiled.  A  third  party, 
who  may  be  denominated  tertium  quids,  prefer 
them  half-boiled,  and  so  on,  through  every  grada 
tion,  from  one  extreme  to  the  other. 

It  is  astonishing,  what  a  number  of  families  there 
are,  both  in  the  old  and  new  world,  whose  peace 
almost  entirely  depends  on  the  judicious  boiling 
of  those  oddities,  which,  from  the  first  cackling  of 
the  hen  to  their  being  served  up  at  the  breakfast 


106  KONINGSMARKE. 

table,  or  hatched  into  chickens,  seem  destined  to 
give  great  trouble  to  the  fair  sex.  Certain  it  is, 
that  the  boiling  of  eggs  is  a  matter  of  great  mo 
ment  to  the  peace  of  society  and  the  happiness  of 
mankind.  We  have  seen  a  lord  of  the  creation 
put  out  of  humour  for  a  whole  day,  because  his  egg 
had  been  kept  ten  seconds  too  long  in  the  skillet. 
Nay,  we  have  more  than  once  beheld  a  lively, 
good-humoured  Frenchman,  who  was  the  life  of  a 
stage-coach  all  night  long,  eat  twenty  hard-boiled 
eggs  in  the  morning  at  breakfast,  and  grumble  all 
the  while  at  the  cook,  the  house,  and  all  within  it, 
except  the  pretty  bar-maid. 

And  here  we  will  observe,  that  the  best  possible 
test  of  a  gentleman  is  his  behaviour  at  a  dinner, 
breakfast,  or  supper  table,  in  a  hotel  or  steam-boat. 
It  is  there  that  his  pretensions  are  put  to  the  touch 
stone,  and  that  fine  clothes  fail  to  hide  from  obser 
vation  the  clown  that  lurks  beneath  them.  If  we 
find  him  snatching  at  every  dish  within  his  reach ; 
filling  his  plate  with  fish,  flesh,  and  fowl ;  eating  as 
if  his  last,  or  rather  his  first  meal  were  come  ;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  looking  about  with  eyes  as  wide 
open  as  his  mouth,  to  see  what  next  to  devour- 
not  velvet-cloth  coat,  dandy  pantaloons,  or  corset 
dire,  will  suffice  to  place  him  in  the  rank  of  gen 
tlemen.  Were  we  to  express  our  idea  of  a  well* 
bred  man  in  one  word,  we  would  say,  he  was  a 
gentleman,  even  in  his  eating ;  nor  would  we  hesi* 
to  place  any  man  in  that  class,  who,  being 


KONINGSMARKE.  107 

fond  of  soft  eggs,  should  be  able  to  eat  them  boiled 
hard,  without  grumbling.  We  remember,  for  we 
delight  to  remember  every  thing  connected  with 
that  gay,  good-humoured,  sprightly  old  gentleman, 
Deidrich  Knickerbocker,  that  he  always  superin 
tended  his  eggs  himself,  by  a  stop-watch,  and  more 
than  once  came  near  to  scalding  his  fingers,  in  his 
haste  to  rescue  his  favourites  from  the  boiling  ele 
ment,  ere  the  fatal  crisis  was  passed. 

This  diversity  of  taste  extends  to  almost  every 
enjoyment  and  luxury  of  life,  more  especially  to 
books,  in  the  composition  of  which,  notwithstanding 
so  many  appearances  to  the  contrary,  we  will 
venture  to  say,  that  almost  as  much  reason  is  ne 
cessary,  as  in  the  roasting  or  boiling  of  eggs.  Some 
readers  like  what  are  called  hard  studies,  as  some 
men  like  hard  eggs  ;  while  others  luxuriate  in  raw 
sentiment,  and  melting,  drivelling,  ropy  softness. 
Some  delight  in  impossible  adventures,  and  others 
in  common-place  matter  of  fact.  In  short,  it  is 
quite  unnecessary  to  insist  on  what  the  experience 
of  all  mankind  verifies  every  hour  of  the  day. 

It  is  in  order  to  accommodate,  as  far  as  possible, 
every  class  of  readers,  that  we  have  endeavoured, 
in  the  course  of  this  work,  to  do  what  we  are  fully 
convinced  can  easily  be  done,  namely,  please  all 
sorts  of  people,  whether  lovers  of  hard  or  soft 
eggs.  We  mean  all  those  who  are  naturally  in 
clined  to  be  pleased  with  every  thing;  which  class 
includes,  beyond  doubt,  a  majority  of  mankind ; 


108  KONINGSMARKE. 

for,  as  to  the  critics,  and  other  ill-disposed  people, 
whose  pleasure  consists  in  being  displeased,  we 
have  nothing  to  say  to  such  unreasonable  people, 
except  that  whatever  faults  are  incorporated  into 
this  work,  were  wilfully  placed  there,  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  affording  them  the  pleasure  of  grum 
bling  a  little. 

Our  introductory  chapters  are  intended  for  the 
deepest  philosophers,  who  will  find  therein  matters 
of  weighty  import ;  our  historical  details  are  for 
the  inveterate  lovers  of  truth ;  our  love  scenes  for 
all  whom  it  may  concern ;  our  gravity  for  the  aged ; 
our  jests  for  the  young ;  our  wisdom  is  at  any 
body's  service  that  can  find  it  out ;  and  the  sublime 
declamation  of  the  Frizzled  Head  is  particularly 
intended  for  the  refreshment  of  ladies  and  gentle 
men  of  colour,  who,  it  is  presumed,  will  become 
ere  long  sufficiently  enlightened  to  scold  their 
masters,  and  bully  their  mistresses,  into  a  proper 
sense  of  equality. 


KONINGSMARKE.  109 


CHAPTER  II. 

"  From  fire,  and  water,  and  all  things  amiss, 
Deliver  the  house  of  an  honest  justice." 

THE  interruption  to  the  eloquence  of  the  Frizzled 
Head,  recorded  in  the  last  chapter  of  the  seventh 
book  of  this  veracious  history,  was,  as  the  reader 
may  recollect,  occasioned  by  the  intrusion  of  a 
crowd  of  the  inhabitants  of  Elsingburgh,  headed  by 
Lob  Dotterel,  having  in  custody  the  goblin  Cupid. 
Lob's  hand  had  been  out  so  long,  that,  although  by 
no  means  an  ill-natured  or  malicious  person,  his 
fingers  itched  to  lay  hold  of  a  culprit  of  some  kind 
or  other.  The  moment,  therefore,  that  he  resumed 
the  duties  of  high  constable  of  Elsingburgh,  he 
began  to  look  about  sharply,  and  make  most  dili 
gent  inquisition  into  the  affairs  of  the  village,  in 
order,  if  possible,  to  catch  some  one  tripping. 
Failing  in  this,  he  bethought  himself  of  certain 
boastings  of  Cupid,  during  their  captivity  among 
the  Indians,  from  which  it  appeared,  that  this  likely 
youth  had  not  only  given  information  to  the  hostile 
savages,  but"  actually  caused,  by  his  immediate 
agency,  the  blowing  up  of  the  magazine,  and 
consequent  destruction  of  Elsingburgh. 

The  high  constable,  stimulated  by  a  longing  de 
sire  of  labouring  once  again  in  his  favourite  voca- 

VOL.  II L 


110  KONINGSMARKE. 

tion,  perhaps  actuated,  too,  by  a  consciousness  of 
the  necessity  of  exposing  and  punishing  a  crime 
so  dangerous  to  the  existence  of  all  the  little  com 
munities  that  were  springing  up  in  this  new  world, 
as  that  of  conspiring  with  the  savages,  laid  this 
information  before  master  Wolfgang  Langfanger. 
Langfanger  was  at  this  time  perfectly  at  leisure 
to  attend  to  the  affair,  having  just  wrought  up  the 
village  to  a  state  of  improvement,  to  which  nothing 
could  be  added  and  nothing  taken  away,  since,  in 
truth,  he  had  left  the  good  people  exceedingly 
bare  of  all  resources  for  either  public  or  private 
emergencies.  By  his  direction,  Lob  Dotterel  forth 
with  summoned  the  posse  comitatus,  and  proceeded 
to  search  for  the  goblin  Cupid,  whom,  it  is  recorded, 
they  found  most  lovingly  consorting  with  his  old 
friend  Grip,  who  still  survived,  and  discovered 
nearly  as  much  sensibility,  on  this  occasion,  as  the 
far-famed  dog  of  Ulysses,  from  which  honest  Grip 
was  very  possibly  a  lineal  descendant. 

The  moment  master  Lob  laid  his  terrible  paw 
on  the  shoulder  of  the  goblin  Cupid,  in  the  way  of 
hostility,  did  honest  Grip  take  a  similar  liberty  with 
the  heel  of  the  high  constable,  which  he  continued 
to  hold  in  his  teeth,  but  without  actually  biting 
through  the  skin.  Lob  was  no  Achilles,  and  if  he 
had  been,  he  was,  like  that  hard-talking  hero,  at 
least  vulnerable  in  the  heel.  The  salutation  of 
Grip  was  therefore  highly  obnoxious  to  the  high 
constable,  who  called  on  the  posse  to  assist  him  in 


KONINGSMARKE.  Ill 

the  discharge  of  his  functions.  But  not  one  of  these 
worthy  citizens  had  the  least  inclination  in  the 
world  to  risk  an  encounter  with  the  white  tusks 
of  Cupid's  guardian  angel,  for  the  public  benefit. 
They  therefore  contented  themselves  with  calling 
off  the  dog,  who  resisted  all  their  coaxing  and  blan 
dishments,  till  one  of  them  bethought  himself  of 
producing  a  bribe.  Every  dog  has  his  price,  and 
the  fidelity  of  Grip,  sorry  we  are  to  record  it, 
yielded  to  the  irresistible  seductions  of  the  marrow 
bone.  All  the  excuse  we  can  allege  for  this  igno 
minious  conduct,  is,  that  poor  Grip  had  been  much 
neglected  in  the  absence  of  his  friend  Cupid,  and 
that  he  was  now  half  starved.  But,  after  all,  we 
fear  this  circumstance  only  furnishes  another  indi 
cation  of  that  downhill  course  of  every  thing  in  this 
world,  which  is  so  clearly  discerned  by  every  man 
after  he  passes  the  age  of  forty,  and  begins  to  go 
downhill  himself.  It  is  then  that,  like  a  passenger 
in  a  locomotive,  while  sitting  apparently  still,  he 
sees  every  thing  else  going  backwards,  though  in 
reality  it  is  himself  that  is  outstripping  all  things, 
in  his  progress  to  the  end  of  his  journey.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  the  dog  seized  his  bone,  and,  retreating 
to  his  strong  hold  under  an  old  piazza,  began  to  dis 
cuss  it  with  such  earnestness,  that  his  old  friend 
Cupid  was  carried  away,  without  exciting  even  a 
growl  of  disapprobation. 

"  Well,  master  constable,"  quoth  the  Heer,  &a 
Lob  entered  with  Cupid  in  custody,  "  what  is  the 


112  KONINGSMARKE. 

matter  now?  hast  thou  been  exercising  thy  func 
tions  already  ?  hast  thou  caught  a  sinner,  hey  ? 
Take  notice,  I  pardon  him  outright,  for  no  one 
shall  date  his  shame  or  his  punishment  from  the 
day  when  my  child  was  returned  to  me  from  the 
wilderness.  What  hath  this  boy  done  ?" 

Lob  Dotterel  then  proceeded  to  detail  the  con 
fession,  or  rather  boast  of  the  goblin,  that  they 
might  thank  him  for  their  captivity,  and  the  burn 
ing  of  Elsingburgh,  as  he  had  not  only  given  infor 
mation  to  the  savages  of  the  proper  time  for  making 
the  attack,  but  had  actually  himself  blown  up  the 
magazine. 

"It  is  a  lie :  he  never  said  so,  or,  if  he  did, 
he  bore  false  witness  against  himself,"  cried  the 
Frizzled  Head,  who  had  discovered  great  agita 
tion  from  the  moment  Cupid  was  brought  in  by 
Lob  Dotterel. 

"  Silence  !"  exclaimed  Lob,  with  the  gravity  of 
the  worthy  Rinier  Skaats,  erewhile  crier  and 
queller  of  noisy  curs  and  falling  shovels  and  tongs, 
in  the  ancient  city-hall  of  Gotham,  now  levelled, 
like  the  good  Rinier  himself,  with,  yea,  below  the 
dust  of  the  earth. 

"  Silence  thou  !"  retorted  Bombie  of  the  Frizzled 
Head ;  "  silence  I  scraper  of  night-cellars,  inquisitor 
of  dungeons,  keen-scented  hound  of  two  legs, 
whose  delight  is  to  hunt  down,  equally,  the  guilty 
who  sin  wilfully,  and  the  innocent  who  cannot 
defend  themselves," 


KONINGSMARKE.  113 

"  Silence  !  I  say,"  cried  the  Heer,  in  a  voice  of 
unequalled  authority;  "silence!  dost  think  there 
is  nobody  to  talk  but  yourselves,  ye  scum  of  a 
kettle  of  boiled  porpoises  ?  If  we  all  talk  at  once, 
I  should  like  to  know  where  the  listeners  are  to 
come  from,  der  teufel  hole  dich" 

"  I  will  not  be  silent,"  quoth  the  Snow  Ball ;  "I 
will  speak,  Heer,  for  it  is  the  only  right  reserved 
by  our  unhappy  race.  Shall  we  be  trod  under 
foot,  and  not  turn  ?  Shall  we  be  beaten,  and  not 
curse  ?  Shall  we  be  oppressed,  ground  to  the 
earth,  abused,  insulted,  manacled,  enslaved,  and 
not  rail  ?  Heer  !  Heer  !  the  heart  and  the  tongue 
cannot  be  held  in  fetters ;  the  one  will  engender, 
the  other  mutter  curses  in  secret,  even  as  dogs 
howl  to  the  moon,  when  there  is  nothing  else  to 
bay.  Beware,  beware  ;  it  is  but  for  me  to  speak 
out,  and  the  fabric  of  thy  happiness  will  crumble 
to  the  earth ;  thou  wilt  go  down  to  the  grave,  not 
as  a  happy  old  man,  beholding  his  children  and  his 
children's  children  sporting  around  his  decaying 
roots,  but  like  a  wretched  being,  seeking  in  death, 
not  immortality,  but  a  refuge  from  recollections  of 
the  past,  that  swallow  up  all  fears  of  the  future. 
Touch  not  a  hair  of  that  boy's  head,  or  thy  own 
gray  hairs  shall  assuredly  go  down  to  the  grave 
in  anguish  and  unutterable  despair." 

"  Had  it  been  any  thing  but  this,"  rejoined  the 
Heer,  who,  stout-hearted  as  he  was,  could  not  help 
feeling,  he  might  not  exactly  tell  how,  at  these  mys- 

VOL.  II L  2 


114  KONINGSMARKE. 

terious  denunciations — "  had  it  been  any  lesser 
offence,  I  would  have  pardoned  it,  and  offered  up 
my  forgiveness  at  the  shrine  of  this  happy  day. 
But  the  crime  of  this  boy  is  one  that  endangers 
the  safety  and  the  lives  of  communities  and  states  ; 
— it  has  cost  us  our  good  town  and  fort  of  Elsing- 
burgh,  both  consumed  in  the  flames ;  it  has  cost  us 
the  lives  of  our  dear  and  wrorthy  counsellor  Ludwig 
Varlett,  and  the  poor  Claas  Tomeson,  his  wife  and 
child :  and  it  has  cost  me  months  of  unutterable 
misery.  My  own  sufferings  I  might  forget ;  those 
of  my  child  I  might  forgive  ;  but,  as  the  guardian 
and  protector  of  my  people,  I  must  see  justice  done 
upon  one  who  has  been  the  instrument  of  destruc 
tion  to  their  homes,  and  of  exile,  bondage,  and 
tortures,  to  their  friends  and  neighbours.  As  I 
live,  thy  grandson  shall  be  tried  to-morrow,  if  it 
please  God  ;  and  if  he  doth  not  clear  himself  of  this 
heavy  charge,  so  surely  as  the  morrow  comes,  he 
shall  be  made  to  feel  at  least  some  part  of  what 
he  hath  made  others  feel  and  suffer.  Go  thy  ways, 
old  woman,  and  pray  that  thy  lad  may  be  found 
innocent,  for  it  is  only  his  innocence  that  can  shield 
him  now." 

"  Innocent !"  retorted  the  Frizzled  Head-—"  In 
nocent  !  Dost  thou  tell  me,  Heer,  that  innocence  is 
a  surety  against  condemnation  and  punishment  in 
this  world  ?  I,  that  have  seen  the  finger  of  scorn 
pointing  at  an  innocent  child,  not  for  its  own  guilt, 
but  the  guilt  of  its  parents — I,  that  have  seen  the 


KONINGSMARKE.  115 

strong  giant,  wickedness,  bestriding  the  world,  and 
crushing  the  unoffending  helpless  beneath  him — I, 
that  have  seen  innocent  hearts  broken  asunder,  by 
being  made  to  bear  the  burden  and  the  shame  of 
others  crimes — I,  that  have  everywhere  beheld 
the  seeds  of  good  reaped  by  the  wicked,  and  the 
seeds  of  evil  gathered  by  the  virtuous  man — I ! — 
talk  to  me  of  my  child's  innocence  being  a  shield 
of  protection !  Had  I  not  forgot  to  laugh,  long, 
many  long  years  ago,  I  would  laugh  in  thy  face, 
Heer,  though  my  burden  in  this  life  is  to  bear  the 
heavy  load  of  inferiority  to  the  lowest,  the  meanest, 
the  vilest  of  thy  race." 

"  He  shall  be  tried  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  and 
adjudged  by  his  neighbours,"  quoth  the  Heer. 

"  The  laws  of  the  land  !"  rejoined  the  Snow  Ball. 
"  Had  he  any  voice  in  making  these  laws  ?  Has 
he  has  any  interest  or  stake  in  that  society  to  which 
he  is  held  in  subjection,  and  to  whose  welfare  he 
is  to  be  sacrificed  ?  Neighbours  say  you !  He 
hath  no  neighbours  ;  they  will  sit  in  judgment  upon 
him,  not  as  beings  placed  on  a  level  with  a  slave, 
sharing  his  feelings,  his  wrongs,  and  his  resentment. 
No,  Heer,  that  which  alone  gives  rise  to  the  sym 
pathy  between  man  and  man,  is  when  he  puts  him 
self  in  the  place  of  his  neighbour,  and  asks  his 
heart  what  he  would  dor  or  feel,  or  suffer,  if  placed 
in  his  neighbour's  situation.  But  alas  !  my  master, 
what  sympathy  can  there  ever  be  betwixt  the  free* 
man  aad  the  slave." 


116  KON1NGSMARKE. 

"  Go  thy  ways,"  mildly,  yet  firmly  replied  the 
Heer,  waving  his  hand  for  her  to  depart.  "  There 
is  some  truth  in  what  thou  sayest  j  but  still  I  declare 
to  thee,  he  shall  clear  himself  of  this  crime  to 
morrow,  or  lay  down  his  life  to-  expiate  it.  Go  thy 
ways.  I  pity  thee — but  thou  talkest  to  the  winds." 

"  Then  may  thy  last  petitions  on  thy  death-bed, 
be  howled  out  to  the  winds,  as  I  do  now  !  But  it 
is  not  alone  I  and  mine  that  shall  suffer  ;  thou  and 
thine,  Heer,  will  live  to  rue  the  hour  when  the  only 
being  that  owns  kindred  or  fellowship  with  me  in 
this  wide  world  shall  be  made  a  spectacle  and  a 
victim.  Before  I  go,  as  I  shall  surely  go,  when 
that  hour  arrives,  I  will  lay  that  on  thy  heart  shall 
make  it  bleed  or  break ;  I  will  pour  out  a  vial  of 
wrath  on  thy  gray  head,  and  on  the  innocent  head 
of  thy  child,  shall  blast  and  scorch  them,  as  the 
lightning  scorches  the  earth,  so  that  neither  grass, 
nor  herbage,  nor  any  thing  green,  ever  grows  there 
again." 

"  Let  it  be  so— if  it  must,  it  must.  I  shall  do 
my  duty,  let  come  what  will,"  quoth  the  Heer,  at 
the  same  time  directing  that  a  high  court  should  be 
held  on  the  morrow,  for  the  trial  of  Cupid,  who,  in 
the  interim,  was  intrusted  to  the  care  of  Lob  Dot 
terel,  to  be  guarded  with  all  possible  vigilance. 
The  sable  lad  had  all  this  while  maintained  a  dogged 
silence,  either  trusting  to  the  overwhelming  elo 
quence  of  his  grandmother,  or  actuated  by  that 
unconquerable  obstinacy,  which  is  so  often  a  cha- 


KONINGSMARKB.  117 

racteristic  of  his  race,  and  which  in  the  ignorant 
is  called  stupidity — in  the  enlightened,  philosophy. 
The  party  then  dispersed  their  various  ways  ; 
and  it  may  not  be  beneath  the  dignity  of  this  his 
tory  to  record,  that  the  good  Heer,  who  was  thus 
ready  to  brave  the  mysterious  denunciations  of 
Bombie,in  order  to  further  the  sacred  ends  of  justice, 
that  night  went  to  bed  without  his  supper,  either 
because  he  had  no  appetite,  or  rather,  as  we  be 
lieve,  that  the  Frizzled  Head  refused  to  cook  his 
favourite  dish  of  pepperpot. 


118  KONINGSMARKE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"  Hem !  grass  and  hay.     We're  all  mortal !" 

BETIMES  the  next  morning,  the  trial  of  the  likely 
fellow  Cupid  came  on  in  the  high  court  of  El- 
singburgh;  where  presided  the  Heer  in  person, 
assisted  by  Counsellors  Langfanger  and  Pfegel, 
and  prompted  in  the  mysteries  of  that  most  mys 
terious  of  all  sciences,  the  law,  by  six  folios  of  juris 
prudence,  each  one  nearly  a  foot  thick,  and  contain 
ing  sufficient  matter  to  confound  the  universe. 

The  prisoner  was  brought  in  by  Lob  Dotterel, 
the  gravity  of  whose  deportment  would  have  done 
credit  to  a  much  greater  man  than  himself,  and 
whose  attention  seemed  equally  divided  between 
Cupid,  and  a  parcel  of  his  old  enemies,  the  boys, 
who  pressed  forward  to  see  what  was  going  to 
become  of  their  sable  playmate.  Among  those 
who  attended  the  trial  was  Bombie  of  the  Frizzled 
Head,  whose  agitation  was  singularly  contrasted 
with  the  apparently  stupid  insensibility  of  her 
grandson.  The  prisoner,  in  fact,  seemed  almost 
unconscious  of  his  situation,  and  stood  with  folded 
arms,  staring  around  the  room  with  a  vacant  ab 
straction,  as  if  he  had  no  concern  in  what  was  going 
forward. 


KONINGSMARKE.  119 

Those  important  forms,  so  essential  to  the  very 
existence  of  lawyers,  if  not  of  the  law,  being  gone 
through,  and  the  indictment  read,  charging  the 
prisoner,  among  other  matters,  with  conspiring 
against  the  life  of  the  great  Gustavus,  Cupid  was 
asked  the  usual  question  of  "  guilty,  or  not  guilty  V9 
He  made  no  reply,  and  continued  obstinately  silent, 
affording,  in  this  respect,  a  singular  contrast  to  her 
of  the  Frizzled  Head,  who  it  was  impossible  to 
keep  quiet,  though  Lob  Dotterel  cried  "  silence  1" 
loud  enough  to  be  heard  across  the  broad  river. 

This  refusal  to  plead  had  like  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  whole  business.  Counsellor  Langfanger  quoted, 
from  a  volume  ten  inches  thick,  a  case  which  went 
to  establish  the  doctrine,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
try  a  criminal  who  would  neither  confess  his  guilt, 
nor  assert  his  innocence.  The  Heer,  on  the  con 
trary,  produced  a  book,  at  least  two  inches  thicker 
than  the  other,  and  printed  in  black-letter  besides, 
which  rebutted  the  authority  of  Counsellor  Lang- 
fanger's  case,  and  held  it  sound  law  to  proceed  upon 
the  silence  of  a  criminal,  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  as 
on  a  confession  of  guilt.  We  shall  not  trouble  the 
reader  with  the  arguments  adduced  in  support  of 
one  or  other  of  these  doctrines,  but  content  our 
selves  with  stating  the  decision  of  the  court,  which 
was,  that  they  would  waive  insisting  upon  an 
answer,  and  proceed  with  the  trial. 

The  business  was  soon  over,  as  at  that  time 
there  was  not  a  single  lawyer  in  the  whole  com- 


120  KONINGSMARKE. 

munity  of  Elsingburgh ;  a  proof  how  much  this 
new  world  has  improved  since,  there  being  hardly 
a  village  of  that  size  at  present  in  the  country, 
that  hath  not  at  least  two  lawyers  in  it,  to  puzzle 
the  justices  and  confound  the  laws  of  the  land. 
Besides  the  frequent  boasts  of  Cupid,  during  the 
abode  in  the  wilderness,  one  or  two  persons  de 
posed,  that  they  had  seen  that  likely  youth  hover 
ing  about  the  magazine,  and  at  length  stealing  away 
in  great  haste,  a  few  moments  before  the  explo 
sion  took  place.  He  was  asked  if  he  had  any 
witnesses  to  produce  in  his  behalf,  or  any  thing  to 
say  for  himself,  but  he  remained  silent  as  before. 
The  proofs  were  so  clear,  that  there  was  little,  if 
any,  room  for  doubt,  and  the  court,  after  a  few 
minutes  consultation,  agreed  in  pronouncing  him 
guilty,  and  sentencing  him  to  be  hanged,  for  having 
conspired  with  the  savages,  thereby  occasioning 
the  destruction  of  the  village,  and  the  loss  of  several 
lives. 

This  sentence  was  received  by  the  prisoner  with 
the  same  immoveable  indifference  he  had  hitherto 
preserved  ;  he  made  no  gesture,  he  moved  not  his 
lips,  but  continued,  as  before,  to  gaze  around,  with 
out  appearing  to  notice  any  thing.  There  was  an 
awful  silence  throughout  the  whole  court,  for  there 
is  something  in  the  annunciation  of  a  disgraceful 
and  violent  death,  from  the  mouth  of  a  judge,  ani 
mated  by  no  passion,  prejudice,  or  resentment,  but 
standing  there  as  the  oracle  of  the  laws,  the  mouth- 


KONINGSMARKE.  121 

piece  of  the  community,  to  denounce  against  the 
offender  the  just  punishment  of  his  crime,  that 
makes  the  most  volatile  serious,  the  most  unthinking 
shudder.  Even  the  fluent  Bombie  seemed  for  once 
quelled  into  silence,  by  the  shock  of  this  awful  dis 
pensation,  and  she  followed  her  condemned  grand*- 
son  out  of  the  court  in  dead  silence,  her  head  bent 
down  upon  her  bosom. 

Between  the  condemnation  of  Cupid  and  the  time 
appointed  for  his  execution,  the  Frizzled  Head  em 
ployed  herself  in  making  interest  with  Christina,  the 
Long  Finne,  and,  indeed,  every  one  whose  inter 
cession  she  thought  might  induce  the  Heer  to  miti 
gate  the  punishment  of  her  grandson.  But  the 
Heer  remained  immoveable  to  the  solicitations  of 
his  daughter  and  the  Long  Finne.  The  crime  was 
of  too  deep  a  die  ;  the  example  of  pardon  might 
be  of  the  most  pernicious  consequences ;  and  the 
prerogative  of  mercy  ought  never  to  be  exercised 
to  the  endangering  the  safety  of  the  state,  or  the 
security  of  life  and  property. 

The  day  before  the  execution,  Bombie  essayed, 
for  the  last  time,  to  move  the  Heer  in  behalf  of 
her  grandson. 

"  Art  thou  resolved  that  he  shall  die  on  the  mor 
row  ?"  said  she. 

"  As  surely  as  to-morrow  shall  come,  so  sure  as 
the  sun  shall  rise,  even  so  surely  shall  he  never 
live  to  see  it  go  down,"  replied  the  Heer. 

"  Thou  hast  forgotten,  then,  the  services  I  have 

VOL.  II M 


122  KONINGSMARKE. 

done  to  thee  and  thine ;  thou  no  longer  remem- 
berest  that  I  have  been  to  thy  wife,  who  is  gone,  a 
faithful  handmaid ;  that  I  ministered  to  her  in  sick 
ness  and  in  health,  and  that,  when  she  died,  she 
bequeathed  me  to  thy  care  and  protection :  thou 
hast  forgot  that  it  was  I  that  bore  thy  infant  daughter 
in  my  arms,  when  her  own  limbs  would  not  support 
her  ;  that  it  was  I  who,  when  her  mother  died,  did 
all  I  could  to  supply  the  place  of  a  mother  to  her ; 
and  that  I  have  watched,  and  do  still  watch,  over 
the  welfare  of  thy  child,  even  while  thou  art  doom 
ing  mine  to  a  shameful  death.  Thou  hast  forgotten 
all  this,  Heer !" 

"  Say  not  so,"  rejoined  the  Heer,  "  for  so  it  is 
not.  I  remember  thou  hast  been  to  me  and  mine 
a  faithful  slave,  and  I  am  grateful  for  thy  kindness, 
but—" 

"  But  what  ?"  interrupted  the  Frizzled  Head. 
"  Thou  wouldst  strive  to  persuade  me  of  thy  good 
will,  while  thou  refusest  me  the  last  request  I  shall 
ever  make  thee.  Of  what  use  is  thy  gratitude  to 
me,  if  thou  wilt  not  permit  it  to  sway  thy  actions? 
what  avails  it,  if,  when  thou  inflictest  a  wound  of 
death,  thou  shalt  whine  in  my  ear,  that  thou  art 
sorry  for  it  ?  Say  that  thou  wilt  spare  his  life,  and 
I  will  believe  in  thy  gratitude." 

"  If  the  risk  of  sparing  him  were  mine  alone," 
said  the  Heer,  "  I  would  not  hesitate ;  but  I  am 
not  acting  for  myself.  The  safety  of  my  people 
depends  upon  the  punishment  of  those  who  con- 


KONINGSMARKE.  123 

spire  to  destroy  them,  as  did  thy  grandson.  Were 
I  to  let  him  loose,  he  might  again  occasion  the 
destruction  of  our  village,  and  how  then  should  I 
answer  it  to  my  God,  my  king,  or  my  people  ?" 

"  Yes !"  retorted  the  Frizzled  Head,  with  bitter 
ness,  "  Yes  !  such  is  the  code  and  the  heart  of  the 
white  man.  His  duties  are  ever  conflicting  with 
each  other,  and  even  the  precepts  of  forgiveness, 
inculcated  by  the  book  which  he  pretends  came 
directly  from  Heaven,  must  yield  to  laws  of  his  own 
making.  As  a  Christian,  it  is  his  duty  to  pardon ; 
as  a  legislator,  to  punish  offences.  He  cannot  love 
his  country  without  being  unjust  to  his  friends,  nor 
fulfil  his  duties  to  the  puolic,  but  at  the  sacrifice  of 
kindred  affection,  and  domestic  ties.  But,  once 
more — once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  art  thou 
resolved,  Heer?" 

"  I  am." 

"  Fixed  as  fate  ?" 

"  As  I  live,  I  swear  that,  so  far  as  rests  with  me, 
he  shall  pay  the  forfeit  of  his  dark  and  malignant 
crime,  before  mid-day  to-morrow.  Trouble  me 
no  more — I  am  deaf  to  thy  petition." 

"  Then  thus  may  it  be  with  thy  petitions,  now, 
henceforth,  and  for  ever  more,  whether  addressed 
to  thy  fellow-creatures,  or  to  Him  who  made  us 
all.  If  thou  callest  for  sympathy,  mayest  thou  meet 
with  scorn;  if  thou  askest  for  kindness,  mayest  thou 
be  answered  with  the  bitterness  of  contumely ;  if 
thou  criest  out  for  bread,  mayest  thou  receive  a 


124  KONINGSMARKB. 

stone  ;  and  if,  in  the  last  hour  of  thy  existence, 
struggling  between  life  and  death,  time  and  eter 
nity,  fearing,  hoping,  trembling,  expiring,  thou  shalt 
address  thy  last  prayer  for  pardon  to  the  throne 
of  thy  Maker,  may  he  turn  a  deaf  ear,  as  thou  hast 
done  to  mine." 

So  saying,  she  departed  from  the  presence  of 
the  Heer,  and  took  her  way  through  the  village, 
stopping  at  every  house,  and  madly  calling  on  the 
inhabitants  to  interfere,  and  rescue  her  grandson 
from  what  she  called  the  tyranny  of  the  governor. 
But  her  exhortations  produced  little  or  no  effect. 
The  people  had  suffered  too  much  from  the  trea 
sonable  practices  of  Cupid,  to>feel  any  sympathy 
for  him  ;  and  they  were  so  accustomed  to  consider 
the  declamations  of  Bombie  of  the  Frizzled  Head 
as  little  better  than  mysterious  parables,  coming 
from  the  mouth  of  one  who  possessed  little  in 
common  with  ordinary  mortals,  that  few  paid 
much  attention,  to  her  from,  any  other  motive  than 
fear. 

Early  the  next  morning  there  was  a  great  bustle 
observed  in  the  village,  for  this  was  the  morning 
big  with  the  fate  of  Bombie's  grandson.  This  was 
the  first  example  of  a  capital  punishment  that  ever 
occurred  in  Elsingburgh,  and  the  effect  was  pro- 
portionably  profound.  Every  body  seemed  agitated 
and  in  motion,  yet  nothing  was  doing.  All  avo* 
cations  were  suspended,  and,  although  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  talking,  it  was  all  in  whispers.  A 


KONTNGSMARKE.  125 

certain  deep  impression  of  horror  reigned  all 
around,  and  the  imagination  was  filled  with  nothing 
but  images  of  death.  Yet  such  is  the  apparent 
inconsistency  of  human  nature,  that  there  was  not 
a  soul  in  the  whole  village,  except  the  Heer's  family, 
that  was  capable  of  motion,  who  did  not  attend 
the  execution  of  Cupid.  Men,  women,  and  chil 
dren,  impelled  by  that  mysterious  fascination  which 
draws  the  bird  to  the  fang  of  the  rattlesnake,  and 
sometimes  impels  the  human  being  to  precipitate 
himself  from  the  brow  of  the  precipice,  poured 
forth,  on  this  occasion,  to  witness  what  struck  them 
with  horror  in  the  exhibition,  and  made  the  night 
terrible  for  a  long  while  afterward.  The  people 
of  the  country,  and  those  who  live  in  retired  vil 
lages,  see  so  little  of  novelty,  that  they  are  ex 
tremely  fond  of  sights,  and  are  almost  equally 
attracted  by  any  thing  that  breaks  in  upon  the 
monotony  of  their  existence.  It  is  not  that  people 
love  to  witness  spectacles  of  horror,  or  the  effusion 
of  human  blood,  but  that  they  want  excitement, 
and  often  seek  it  after  a  strange  manner. 

The  goblin  Cupid  had  not  spoke,  since  the  mo 
ment  of  his  apprehension  by  Lob  Dotterel.  To 
the  exhortations  of  Dominie  Kanttwell,  as  well  as 
the  lamentations  of  his  grandmother,  he  turned  a 
deaf  ear ;  and  it  was  impossible  to  discover,  by 
any  outward  indications,  whether  terror  or  obsti 
nacy  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  apparent  insensi 
bility.  When  conducted  to  the  foot  of  the  gallows, 

VOL.  II M  2 


126  KONINGSMARKE. 

he  looked  about  as  if  he  were  rather  a  spectator 
than  an  actor  in  the  scene  ;  nor  did  the  agonies  of 
the  poor  old  sibyl,  his  grandmother,  who,  when  she 
came  to  take  leave  of  him,  discovered  a  degree 
of  intense  feeling,  that  drew  a  tear  from  many  an 
eye,  make  the  least  impression  upon  him,  or  draw 
forth  one  single  returning  endearment. 

"  Farewell,  my  son,"  said  she,  giving  him  a  last 
embrace  ;  "  despised,  deformed  being  of  a  despised 
race,  farewell.  I  have  loved  thee  the  more,  for 
that  thou  wert  hated  by  all  the  world— contemned 
by  the  most  despicable  of  the  white  man's  race — 
hooted  at  by  the  very  beggar  that  slept  in  the  sun 
by  the  road-side — and  everywhere,  and  at  all 
times,  the  sport  of  capricious  power.  .  Why  should 
I  lament  thee  ?  Thou  art  going  where,  even  ac 
cording  to  the  creed  of  thy  oppressors,  all  will  be 
equal,  and  where,  I  say,  thou  wilt  have  thy  turn 
to  play  the  master.  Yes !  I  see  it — -I  feel  it — I 
know  it !  Each  dog  shall  have  his  day,  and  why 
not  so  with  man  ?  Millions  of  people  live  and  die 
in  the  belief,  that  the  ox  which  is  driven,  the  horse 
that  is  rode,  the  sheep  that  is  eaten  by  man,  shall, 
in  some  future  revolution  of  time,  drive,  ride,  and 
eat  the  tyrant  who  did  even  so  unto  them.  And 
shall  not  our  race  have  their  turn?  It.  must  be  so, 
here  or  hereafter," 

The  Frizzled  Head  was  waxing  sublime  and 
incomprehensible  apace,  when  Lob  Dotterel  ap 
prized  her,  that  if  she  had  any  thing  more  to  say 


KONING3MARKE.  127 

to  the  poor  deformed  creature,  she  must  say  it 
soon,  as  his  last  moment  was  come. 

The  Snow  Ball  turned  herself  about,  looked  all 
around  the  circle  with  a  scrutinizing  eye,  and  said, 
as  it  were  to  herself,  "  he  is  not  here."  Then,  as 
if  at  that  moment,  for  the  first  time,,  struck  with 
that  feeling  of  absolute  and  inevitable  certainty, 
under  which  the  agony  of  the  heart  is  quelled  for 
a  time,  and  hope  sinks  into  listless  despondency,, 
•she  quietly  retired  a  little  way  from  the  gallows, 
and  stood  immoveable,  leaning  on  her  stick.  She 
saw  the  fatal  knot  tied ;  the  cap,  which  shut  out 
time,  and  enveloped  eternity,  drawn  over  his  eyes ; 
heard  the  last  exhortation,  the  hymn  that  was  to 
waft  his  soul  no  one  knew  where,,  without  moving 
a  muscle,  or  uttering  a  word.  The  noise  of  the 
cart,  as  it  drew  from  under  the  fatal  tree,  seemed 
for  a  moment  to  shake  her  old  crazy  frame.  She 
gazed  for  a  minute,  while  her  grandson  was  hang-, 
ing  in  the  mid-air,  and  was  silent,  till  the  total 
cessation  of  motion  in  his  limbs  announced  that  all 
was  over.  Then,  letting  fall  her  stick,  clasping 
her  old  withered  hands,  and  raising  her  eyes  to 
Heaven,  she  shrieked  out — 

"'Tis  done — and  may  all  the  cruel,  accursed 
race  of  the  white  man  thus  perish,  as  thou,  my 
poor  boy,,  hast  perished.  Yes !  yes  !  ye  proud, 
upstart  crew,  the  time  shall  come,  it  shall  surely 
come,  when  the  pile  of  oppression  you  have  reared 
tp  the  clouds  shall  fall,,  and  crush  your  own  head&. 


128  KONINGSMARKE. 

Black  men  and  red  men,  all  colours,  shall  combine 
against  your  pale,  white  race ;  and  the  children 
of  the  master  shall  become  the  bondsmen  of  the 
posterity  of  the  slave  !  I  say  it — I,  that  am  at  this 
moment  standing  scarce  nearer  to  time  than  to 
eternity — I,  that  am  at  this  moment  shaking  hands 
with  death,  and  my  body  and  spirit  taking  their 
last  leave  of  each  other — I  say  it — and  I  say  my 
last." 

The  tough  old  heart-strings  that  had  so  often 
been  tested,  in  the  hard  gales  of  life,  now  cracked, 
and  gave  way ;  the  strong  frame  that  had  endured 
so  many  hardships,  all  at  once  refused  to  endure 
any  more,  and  in  less  than  a  minute  after  Bombie 
uttered  these  words,  she  sunk  to  the  ground,  over 
whelmed  by  the  agony  of  her  feelings. 

Numbers  flocked  around,  as  is  usual  in  these 
cases,  and  one  of  the  crowd  exclaimed  to  the 
others,  "  raise  her  up."  "•  Raise  her !"  repeated 
the  Frizzled  Head,  the  last  energies  of  life  trembling 
on  her  tongue — "  Raise  her  !  none  but  Him  who 
broke  down  the  eternal  barriers  between  the  quick 
and  the  dead  ;  who  called  at  the  mouth  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  awoke  the  sleeping  dust ;  who  tri 
umphed  over  death  and  the  grave,  can  raise  this 
withered  old  trunk.  The  hour  is  come — it  is  past 
Wait,  boy — I  come."  Her  eyes  closed,  and  she 
departed  to  a  better  world. 

The  crowd  dispersed,  overwhelmed  with  terror; 
and  that  night  there  was  little  sleep  in  the  village 


HONING  SMARKE.  129 

of  Elsingburgh.  The  good  housewife  lay  wakeful 
and  afraid  by  the  side  of  her  tired  husband,  who, 
ever  and  anon,  as  he  fell  into  a  doze,  was  roused 
by  some  question  from  his  trembling  partner,  fearful 
of  being  awake  all  alone  ;  while  the  little  urchins 
could  not  close  their  eyes,  without  shutting  in  the 
horrible  picture  of  Cupid  dangling  in  the  air,  and 
the  Frizzled  Head  expiring  on  the  ground.  For  a 
long  time  their  spirits  haunted  the  village,  in  the 
dark  nights ;  and  it  was  currently  reported  that 
Lob  Dotterel,  through  whose  agency  the  goblin 
Cupid  came  to  his  end,  received  nightly  visits  from 
the  pair  of  sable  ghosts,  who,  it  was  affirmed,  were 
just  as  black  as  when  alive.  Many  people  argued 
from  this  circumstance,  that  they  were  evil  spirits, 
but  as  they  never  were  positively  convicted  of 
doing  any  harm,  we  are  inclined  to  hope  the  opinion 
was  without  any  foundation. 


130  KONINGSMARKE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  If  thou  haddest  prayed  but  halfe  so  muche  to  me, 
As  I  have  prayed  to  thy  relykes  and  thee, 
Nothynge  concernynge  myne  occupacion, 
But  straighte  shulde  have  wroughte  one  operation." 

The  Four  P's. 

THE  reader  may  chance  to  recollect  the  oath  of 
Governor  Piper,  that,  notwithstanding  the  opposi 
tion  of  the  mysterious  Bombie,  the  Long  Finne 
and  the  fair  Christina  should  be  wedded  on  the 
morrow.  Many  days  had  elapsed,  yet  Christina 
was  not  a  wife,  which  shows  how  careful  people 
should  be  of  taking  rash  oaths.  The  Heer,  in  truth, 
had  been  too  busy  all  this  while  to  attend  to  his 
own  private  affairs.  Besides  the  vexatious  trial 
and  execution  of  Cupid,  and  the  eternal  exhorta 
tions,  threats,  and  prophecies  of  his  grandmother, 
there  was  a  storm  gathering  in  the  north,  that 
menaced  the  downfall  of  his  authority,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  Swedish  crown  in  the  new  world.  The 
King  of  England,  Charles  the  Second,  being  one 
day  informed  that  Cornelius  De  Witt  had  caused 
to  be  painted  a  great  picture,  or  rather  an  "  abusive 
picture,"  as  his  majesty  was  pleased  to  call  it, 
representing  the  said  De  Witt,  with  the  attributes 
of  conqueror  in  a  naval  fight  with  England,  fell  into 
a  bad  humour,  and  determined  to  go  to  war  with 
the  Dutch. 


KONINGSMARKE.  131 

A  consequence  of  this  war,  as  every  body 
knows,  or  ought  to  know,  was  the  capture  of  the 
Dutch  possessions  in  what  was  called  the  New 
Netherlands,  in  North  America,  and  a  surrender 
of  all  their  claims,  by  treaty,  at  the  conclusion  of 
peace.  These  claims,  now  reverting  to  England, 
comprehended  all  the  settlements  below  Coaqua- 
nock,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware  river,  although 
these  were  originally  founded  by  the  Swedes,  who 
disallowed  the  Dutch  claim,  and  professed  to  hold 
under  an  express  grant  or  recognition  from  Eng 
land.  In  this  complicated  state  of  affairs,  it  was 
plain,  that  the  right  of  the  strongest  was  worth  all 
the  rest  of  these  rights  put  together ;  and  that, 
consequently,  the  power  of  the  good  Heer  rested 
on  a  rather  ticklish  foundation.  Several  messages 
had  passed  between  him  and  Governor  Lovelace, 
of  New- York,  who,  about  this  time,  signified  to  the 
Heer,  that  unless  he  agreed  to  a  surrender  upon 
terms,  he  should  in  a  few  months  send  a  power 
adequate  to  force  a  surrender  without  any  terms 
at  all.  Governor  Piper  had  received  sufficient 
information  from  New- York,  to  satisfy  him  that 
his  power  was  totally  incompetent  to  resist  the 
puissance  of  Governor  Lovelace,  and  that  he  had 
nothing  to  do  but  surrender  at  discretion,  when 
ever  the  summons  was  given.  He  was,  therefore, 
just  now,  suffering  the  unpleasant  anticipation  of 
being  shortly  obliged  to  return  to  a  private  station, 
which,  albeit  that  it  is  usually  denominated  the 


132  KONINGSMARKE. 

"  post  of  honour,"  is  not  much  coveted  by  most 
people,  more  especially  those  who  have  been  ac 
customed  to  posts  of  profit. 

These  public  perplexities  naturally  drew  off  the 
attention  of  Governor  Piper  from  the  affairs  of  his 
daughter,  who,  on  her  part,  however,  although  she 
had  consented  to  become  the  wife  of  Konings- 
marke,  still  discovered  an  insurmountable  objection, 
in  her  behaviour,  actually  to  commit  matrimony 
with  that  youth.  We  call  him  a  youth,  on  account 
of  his  being  so  much  younger  than  ourselves, 
although,  in  truth,  he  was  not  much  under  thirty 
years  of  age>  notwithstanding  he  looked  younger. 
Indeed,  the  struggles  of  poor  Christina,  betwixt 
gratitude  and  love,  on  one  hand,  and  filial  affection 
and  duty  towards  the  memory  of  her  mother,  on 
the  other,  now  that  she  was  returned  to  her  home, 
and  out  of  the  reach  of  the  daily  and  hourly  anxi 
eties  which  occupied  her  during  her  captivity, 
returned  again  as  violently  as  ever.  The  antici 
pation  of  her  union  with  Koningsmarke  afforded 
her  no  pleasure,  and  she  seized  every  pretext  to 
elude  or  put  aside  his  solicitations  to  fulfil  her  own 
promise,  and  the  wishes  of  her  father.  As  they 
walked  one  evening  along  the  little  stream  we 
have  heretofore  mentioned,  they  came  to  the  place 
where  Koningsmarke  had  rescued  Christina  from 
the  pollution  of  the  poor  maniac.  The  sight  of 
this  spot  recalled  more  vividly  to  her  recollection 
the  terrors  of  that  horrible  hour.  She  shuddered, 


KONINGSMARKE.  133 

and  looked  in  his  face  with  an  expression  of  love 
and  gratitude,  that  found  its  way  to  the  innermost 
folds  of  his  heart. 

"  What  do  I  not  owe  thee,"  whispered  she  softly, 
at  the  same  time  pressing  closely  to  his  side,  as  if 
terrified  with  the  very  phantom  of  her  memory. 

"  Thou  owest  me  nothing — at  least  nothing  that 
thou  canst  not  easily  repay,"  replied  Konings- 
marke.  "  I  ask  nothing  from  gratitude,  every  thing 
from  love.  Be  mine,  Christina,  as  thou  hast  pro 
mised.  Thy  father  wishes  it." 

"And  my  mother?"  replied  Christina,  with  a 
penetrating  look. 

"  She  is  beyond  the  reach  of  this  world,"  replied 
the  youth.  "  Nothing  that  passes  here  below, 
nothing  that  thou  canst  do,  or  leave  undone,  neither 
thy  virtues  nor  thy  faults,  can  reach  her  knowledge. 
The  grave  is  the  eternal  barrier  between  the  pre 
sent  and  future  state  of  existence.  It  breaks  the 
ties  of  kindred,  it  severs  the  bonds  of  love  and 
friendship.  We  shall  be  rewarded  and  punished 
for  the  past,  in  the  future,  and  that  is  all.  We 
cannot  know  what  is  passing  in  this  wretched 
world ;  we  cannot  look  down  from  the  skies,  and 
see  what  is  done  and  suffered  by  those  we  love, 
and  yet  enjoy  the  delights  of  beatitude.  Christina, 
my  beloved  Christina,  do  not  sacrifice  thy  own 
happiness,  as  well  as  mine  ;  do  not  refuse  to  fulfil 
the  wishes  of  one  parent,  and  that  a  living  one,  in 
a  vain  and  futile  idea  that  it  will  rejoice  the  spirit 

VOL.  II N 


134  KONINGSMARKE. 

of  one  that  is  dead.  Spirits  never  rejoice  or  grieve 
at  aught  that  passes  here." 

"  Did  my  father  know  what  I  know,"  rejoined 
Christina,  "  he  would  spurn  thee  for  asking,  and  me 
for  granting  what  thou  askest." 

"  But  he  knows  it  not,  nor  ever  will  know  it. 
Now  that  the  tattling  Bombie  is  gone,  thou  art  the 
only  being  on  earth  that  knows  how  much  thou 
hast  to  forgive  towards  me.  Once  mine,  or  even 
if  never  mine,  I  know  thy  generous  nature  will 
bury  the  secret  from  all  the  world  besides." 

"  But  can  I  bury  it  so  deep  that  it  will  not  haunt 
me,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  as  it  doth  now  ?  I 
cannot  hide  it  from  my  own  heart  ?  it  is  like  the 
spectre  to  the  guilty  mind,  and  ever  seizes  the 
moment  of  forgetfulness,  to  come  when  least  ex 
pected,  and  dash  away  the  cup  of  bliss,  just  at  the 
very  lips." 

"  Christina,"  said  the  Long  Finne,  in  a  severe 
and  solemn  tone,  "  I  cannot  endure  this  life  much 
longer.  Weighed  down  as  I  am,  by  the  recol 
lections  of  the  past,  I  would  not  be,  or  even  seem, 
presumptuous,  impatient,  or  unreasonable ;  but  why 
didst  thou  first  give  thyself  to  me  ?  and  why  dost 
thou  now  withhold  the  gift  ?  Be  what  thou  wilt, 
but  be  it  wholly." 

"  Why  !"  exclaimed  the  unhappy  girl,  bursting 
into  a  paroxysm  of  passionate  wo — "why  is  it  that 
man,  and  woman  too,  are  ever  the  sport  of  con 
flicting  duties  and  wishes  ?  why  is  it  that  the  ten- 


KONINGSMARKE.  135 

derness,  or,  if  you  will,  the  weakness  of  woman's 
heart,  so  often  betrays  her  reason,  and  places  her 
good  name,  her  peace  of  mind,  her  welfare,  here 
and  hereafter,  in  the  power  of  man  ?  At  this  mo 
ment,  when  the  fate  of  my  mother  is  full  before  my 
eyes,  who  shall  dare  blame  me,  if,  here  on  this  spot, 
where  I  myself  was  saved  from  a  fate  ten  times 
more  dreadful,  I  should  waver,  like  a  wretched 
being,  as  I  am,  between  conflicting  feelings,  wishes, 
and  duties  ?  that  when  I  call  to  mind  our  captivity 
together,  our  mutual  dangers,  and  thy  unwearied 
kindness,  I  should  stand,  incapable  of  a  lasting  de 
cision,  fluctuating  and  inconsistent — despicable  in 
mine  own  eyes,  perhaps  in  the  eyes  of  thy  better 
judgment — promising,  one  day,  what  I  shrink  from 
performing — my  heart  torn,  my  temper  variable, 
my  very  reason  sometimes  tottering  under  the 
weight  of  its  perplexities  ?  Give  me  a  little  time, 
and  I  promise,  on  the  faith  of  woman,  to  be  thine, 
as  I  have  covenanted." 

"  Well,  then,"  replied  he,  tenderly,  "  I  will  wait 
with  patience  thy  decision,  and  live,  or  rather  exist, 
in  the  anticipation  of  my  happiness." 

"  Happiness !"  rejoined  the  maid ;  "  believe  it  not, 
hope  it  not :  the  recollections  of  former  times  forbid 
it.  Those  who  have  not  laid  in  the  past  a  founda 
tion  for  future  happiness,  have  erected  their  hopes 
on  the  sand — in  barrenness  and  sterility." 

The  two  lovers  returned  home,  little  satisfied 
with  themselves,  or  each  other.  Koningsmarke 


136  KONINGSMARKE.. 

accused  Christina,  in  his  own  mind,  of  wavering 
and  caprice  ;  and  Christina  herself  suffered  the 
torments  of  self-reproach,  as  at  one  moment  she 
charged  herself  with  forgetting  the  obligations  of 
filial  duty,  and  the  next,  of  being  insensible  to  love,, 
founded  on  the  sacred  obligations  of  gratitude. 
But  these  struggles  were  speedily  brought  to  an 
end  by  a  train  of  events,  which  we  shall  reserve 
for  the  next  chapter. 


KONINGSMARKE.  137 


CHAPTER  V. 

«  There  came  a  knight  of  gallant  fame, 
Sir  Robert  Carre  was  hight  his  name, 
On  ship-board,  with  his  jolly  crew, 
And  said — '  Sir  Piper,  how  d'ye  do  ?'" 

WE  have  before  taken  occasion  to  allude  to  cer 
tain  disputes  which  were,  ever  and  anon,  revived 
between  the  potent  settlements  of  New- York  and 
Elsingburgh,  which,  from  time  to  time,  menaced 
the  very  existence  of  the  latter.  The  storm  thick 
ened  every  day,  inasmuch,  as  that  King  Charles, 
who,  unquestionably,  was  of  happy  memory  in  his 
time,  had  granted  all  the  claims  of  the  Dutch  in 
North  America  to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of 
York,  afterward  King  James  the  Second,  also  of 
blessed  memory,  in  his  time.  But,  as  the  memory 
of  kings,  like  every  sublunary  thing,  hath  its  day, 
it  is  but  fair  to  apprize  the  reader,  who  may  be  a 
little  rusty  in  history,  in  consequence  of  not  having 
paid  due  attention  to  historical  romances,  that 
neither  of  those  illustrious  princes  are  thought 
much  of  in  these  days  of  impiety  and  republicanism. 

However  this  may  be,  his  grace  of  York  forth 
with  took  possession  of  the  colony  of  New  Am 
sterdam,  to  which  he  obtained  an  undoubted  right; 
first,  by  conquest,  and  next,  by  christening  it  over 

VOL.  II N  2 


138  KONINGSMARKE. 

again,  whereby  it  acquired,  and  still  happily  retains,, 
the  name  of  New-York  to  this  day.  This  fair  and 
renowned  colony,  with  its  beautiful  city,  its  Dutch 
burgomasters,  dumpling  dowagers,  and  cherry- 
cheeked  girls,  was  now  governed  in  the  name  of 
the  proprietary,  by  Colonel  Richard  Lovelace,  an 
old  cavalier  and  soldier,  who  had  been  an  actor  in 
the  parliamentary  wars,  and  cherished  a  mortal 
antipathy  to  puritans,  republicans,  and  all  sorts  of 
people  who  refused  to  drink,  and  sung  psalms 
through  their  noses.  Inde'ed,  his  politics  formed 
the  ruling  principles  of  action  with  the  colonel, 
who,  among  other  matters,  got  tipsy  every  after 
noon,  and  turned  his  back  upon  all  sorts  of  meeting 
houses  ;  not  so  much  out  of  affection  for  wine,  or 
indifference  to  religion,  as  because  his  enemies, 
the  puritans,,  or  crop-ears*  as  he  was  wont  to  call 
them,  hated  drinking,  and  loved  long  prayers. 
With  all  this,  he  valued  himself  upon  his  gallantry 
to  the  fair  sex,  and  cherished  to  the  last  a  portion 
of  that  dignified  courtesy  to  damsels,  particularly 
those  that  were  young  and  pretty,  which  consti 
tuted  one  of  those  beautiful  characteristics,  that 
threw  something  like  an  air  of  refinement  even 
over  the  barbarous  ages  of  chivalry. 

Governor  Lovelace  professed,^  moreover,  a  most 
bitter  and  sovereign  contempt  for  the  king-people 
of  this  free  and  high-spirited  quarter  of  our  mun 
dane  sphere,  derived  from  his  early  habits  of  think 
ing  and  acting.  Passive  obedience,  and  non-re- 


KGNINGSMARKE.  139 

sistance,  were  his  creed,  and  in  his  private  opinion 
worth  all  other  commandments  put  together ;  and 
if  the  governor  ever  hated  one  thing  beyond  all 
others,  it  was  a  person  in  private  life  who  meddled 
with  public  affairs.  Writing,,  on  one  occasion,  to 
his  valiant  captain,  Sir  Robert  Carre,  on  occasion 
of  some  troubles  in  the  then  newly-acquired  pos 
sessions  on  the  lower  Delaware,  the  governor 
gravely  observes :  "  as  for  the  poor  deluded  sort> 
I  think  the  advice  of  one  of  their  own  country 
men  is  not  to  be  despised,  who,  knowing  their 
temper  well,  prescribed  a  method  for  keeping  them 
in  order,  which  is,  severity,  and  laying  such  taxes 
on  them  as  may  not  give  them  liberty  to  entertain 
any  other  thoughts,  but  how  to  discharge  them." 

This  method  we  hereby  humbly  recommend  to 
Messieurs  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  as  summing  up, 
in  the  smallest  possible  compass,  the  quintessence 
of  a  pure  system  of  legitimate  government..  That 
they  may  be  sure  of  receiving  the  benefit  of  this, 
precious  morceau,  we  have  specially  directed  our 
bookseller  to  transmit  to  each  of  the  "  Three  gen 
tlemen  of  Verona,"  a  copy  of  this  our  work,  with- 
a  reference  to  this  particular  page. 

There  was  one  feature,  and  that  a  leading  one?, 
in  the  character  of  Governor  Lovelace,  which, 
however, in  a  great  degree  tempered  and  neutral 
ized  his  tyrannical  maxims  of  government.  He 
hated  trouble  more  than  all  the  representatives  of 
majesty,  that  ever  presided  in  this  new  world,  and 


140  KONINGSMARKE. 

his  love  of  ease  so  equally  balanced  his  love  of 
sway,  that,  although  abstractedly  the  greatest  little 
tyrant  in  the  world,  he  was  not  guilty,  so  far  as  we 
have  investigated  the  history  of  those  times,  of  a 
single  act  of  oppression,  during  the  whole  period 
he  presided  over  the  colony.  It  is,  indeed,  a  sin 
gular  circumstance,  and  only  to  be  explained  by 
this  peculiarity  in  his  character,  that  this  same 
governor  was  the  identical  person  who  voluntarily 
delegated  a  great  portion  of  his  civil  authority,  in 
the  city,  to  a  board  of  five  aldermen,  whereby  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  that  puissant  council,  which 
hath  since  presided  over  our  destinies,  to  the  great 
glory  and  advantage  of  the  community.  One  of 
his  regulations,  most  peculiarly  praiseworthy,  and 
the  revival  of  which  we  strenuously  recommend, 
was,  that  no  play  should  be  performed,  and  no  book 
published,  until  it  had  been  first  read,  and  approved 
of,  by  the  board  of  aldermen.  As  these  worthy 
censors  had  very  little  time,  and  no  inclination  ta 
read  books,  the  number  of  manuscripts  multiplied 
exceedingly.  His  excellency  boasted,  that  in  con 
sequence  of  this  simple  expedient,  the  mischievous 
art  of  printing  became  almost  extinct  in  his  do 
minion,  and  the  repose  of  his  reign  was  not  inter 
rupted  by  the  intrusion  of  a  single  new  book.  Such 
was  Colonel  Richard  Lovelace  ;  a  brave  soldier, 
an  indolent  statesman,  with  a  head  none  of  the 
clearest,  and  a  heart  never  shut,  except  to  Presby 
terians,  roundheads,  and  meddling  politicians. 


KONINGSMARKE.  141 

Governor  Lovelace,  soon  after  being  quietly 
settled  in  his  government,  despatched  a  summons 
to  the  Heer  Piper,  to  surrender  his  town  and  fort 
of  Elsingburgh  forthwith  "  to  the  obedience  of  his 
majesty  King  Charles  the  Second,"  &c.  The  Heer 
declined  the  invitation,  inasmuch  as  King  Charles 
and  his  master  were  at  peace,  and  he  had  no  in 
clination  whatever  to  disturb  the  harmony  that 
reigned  between  them.  Anticipating,  however,, 
that  this  summons  would  be  followed  by  a  visit, 
Governor  Piper  despatched  the  Long  Finne  and  a 
party  with  presents  to  the  neighbouring  Indians, 
willing  them  to  take  arms  in  his  favour.  This  they 
declined,  with  secret  wishes,  however,  that  the 
two  belligerants  would  mutually  exterminate  each 
other.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Heer  fell  into  a 
violent  bustle,  and  incontinently  busied  himself  for 
several  days  in  doing  nothing,  as  is  customary  with 
people  who  talk  a  great  deal  and  swear  roundly. 

Thus  waned  away  the  time,  until  one  morning, 
a  fine  south  wind  blowing  right  up  the  river,  the 
little  colony  was  alarmed  with  the  sight  of  three 
vessels  of  war,  bearing  upwards,  their  sails  all  set, 
and  colours  flying,  in  gallant  trim.  They  came 
like  birds  upon  the  wing,  each,  as  the  sailors  say, 
when  the  white  foam  gathers  in  waves  at  the  bows,. 
"  carrying  a  bone  in  her  teeth,"  and  advancing  so 
rapidly,  that,  ere  the  wise  heads  of  Elsingburgh 
could  guess,  or  reckon,  what  they  wanted,  or 
whither  they  were  going,  conjecture  was  at  an  end?, 


142  KONINGSMARKE. 

by  the  ships  coming  to  anchor  directly  opposite 
the  town,  as  if  in  scorn  of  the  formidable  battery 
of  swivels  erected  for  its  defence.  Lob  Dotterel 
wanted  to  call  out  the  posse  comitatus,  and  take 
these  intruders  into  custody,  but  his  ardour  was 
restrained  by  the  Heer,  who  anticipated,  with  ex 
ceeding  low  spirits,  the  speedy  termination  of  the 
Swedish  dynasty  in  this  new  hemisphere.  He  felt 
his  greatness  tottering,  and  undoubtedly  soliloquized 
on  the  slippery  nature  of  human  power,  after  the 
manner  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  other  great  men. 
In  less  than  an  hour,  a  boat  put  off  from  the 
largest  ship,  bearing  a  white  flag,  in  token  of  peace, 
as  is  customary,  when  a  message  is  sent,  which, 
if  not  complied  with,  is  to  be  followed  by  blows. 
This  boat  conveyed  the  famous  Sir  Robert  Carre, 
one  of  those  brave  and  hardy  adventurers,  who 
preceded,  or  followed,  the  discovery  of  this  new 
world.  They  were  a  species  of  knights-errant, 
who,  instead  of  being  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  love 
and  beauty,  set  forth  to  seek  their  fortunes  on  the 
high  seas,  or  in  the  new  world,  where  rumours  of 
boundless  wealth  allured  them  to  risk  all,  and  float 
on  the  tide  which  then  began  to  set  towards  the 
west.  The  greater  portion  of  these  were  most 
devout  enemies  to  the  pope  and  the  Spaniard; 
against  whom  they  waged  perpetual  hostilities, 
pretty  much  regardless  whether  the  respective 
countries  were  at  peace  or  not,  religious  zeal  and 
antipathies  being  held  as  sufficient  causes  for  making 


KONINGSMARKE.  143 

"War,  independently  of  those  grounds  of  complaint 
which  are  usually  put  forth  to  justify  an  appeal  to 
arms.  These  adventurers  were,  unquestionably, 
men  of  talents  and  bravery,  but,  if  the  truth  must 
be  told,  they  were  no  great  respecters  of  property, 
and  thought  little  of  plundering  a  town  on  the 
Spanish  Main,  or  boarding  a  galleon,  without  the 
ceremony  of  inquiring  whether  the  laws  of  nations 
justified  the  act.  They  belonged,  generally,  to  the 
race  of  younger  brothers  ;  which,  in  countries  like 
England,  where  the  estate  is  principally  monopo 
lized  by  the  first-born,  has  produced  a  large  portion 
of  those  whose  crimes  have  dishonoured,  or  whose 
bravery  and  talents  have  exalted  and  ennobled  the 
national  character.  Although  it  would  be  gross 
injustice  to  class  these  wild,  adventurous  spirits, 
with  the  bloody  and  desperate  race  of  bucaniers 
which  succeeded  them,  still  we  think  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  they  in  some  measure  prepared  the 
way  for  those  remorseless  enemies  of  the  human 
race.  The  custom  of  making  war  upon  the  Spanish 
settlements  in  the  new  world,  in  the  loose  and 
unauthorized  manner  practised  by  the  first  adven 
turers,  gradually  relaxed  the  restraints  imposed  by 
the  laws  of  nations,  and  in  the  end  led  to  that  entire 
abandonment  of  principle,  and  that  total  disregard 
of  the  claims  of  justice  and  humanity,  which  cha 
racterized  those  wretched  miscreants  called  the 
bucaniers,  whose  very  courage  constituted  the 
greatest  of  their  crimes,  since  it  conquered  the 


144  KONINGSMAIIKE. 

only  restraint  which  villains  acknowledge  in  the 
commission  of  enormities, 

Sir  Robert  Carre  was  a  man  of  few  words,  which 
peculiarity  rendered  him  particularly  disagreeable 
to  the  Heer,  who  liked  very  much  to  talk  a  great 
deal  before  he  came  to  a  decision.  The  knight 
laconically,  and  categorically,  demanded  the  sur 
render  of  Elsingburgh  and  its  dependances  to  the 
Governor  of  New- York,  as  representative  of  the 
King  of  England,  to  whom  the  right  to  all  these 
territories  appertained,  by  discovery,  purchase, 
conquest,  and  various  other  grounds,  each  of  which 
was  amply  sufficient  to  establish  the  right  of  the 
strongest.  Governor  Piper  comprehended,  pretty 
clearly,  that  he  must  positively  comply  with  this 
request,  or  demand,  because  the  hostile  force  was 
amply  sufficient  to  level  his  town  and  fort  to  the 
dust  in  two  hours  at  farthest.  But  the  good  man 
wisely  determined  to  put  a  bold  face  on  the  busi 
ness,  and  not  ignominiously  surrender,  without  a 
long  discussion,  which  he  looked  upon  as  the  next 
best  thing  to  a  stout  defence  vi  et  armis.  In  short, 
he  was  resolved  upon  a  negotiation,  let  what  would 
happen,  and  privately  stipulated  with  himself  to 
have  at  least  threescore-and-ten  articles  for  the 
security  of  the  persons  and  property  of  his  people, 
and  the  honour  of  his  government,  in  the  capitula 
tion.  Preparatory  to  this,  he  pompously  demanded 
four-and-twenty  hours  to  consider  of  this  summons. 
But  Carre  was  a  person  equally  averse  to  wasting 


KONINGSMARKE.  145 

time  as  words ;  he,  therefore,  very  unceremoniously 
replied,  that  as  it  was  impossible  to  make  any  de 
fence,  there  was  very  little  use  in  considering  about 
it ;  he  therefore  allowed  him  twenty-four  minutes, 
instead  of  twenty-four  hours,  to  decide. 

"  Der  teufel  /"  quoth  the  Heer,  "  that  is  not  time 
enough  to  decide  which  side  of  the  mouth  I  shall 
smoke  my  pipe  this  morning,  much  less  to  settle 
about  the  surrender  of  a  whole  province." 

"  Well,  but  if  there  is  no  choice,  where  is  the 
use  of  taking  time  to  consider  ?  If  a  man  must, 
he  must,  governor." 

"  Must ! — du  galgen  ! — I  see  no  must  in  the  case. 
I  would  have  thee  to  know,  sir  knight,  if  it  were 
not  for  the  shedding  of  Christian  blood,  to  which  I 
have  much  disinclination,  being  partly  convinced  by 
my  friend  William  Penn,  that  there  is  no  use  for 
it  in  this  world,  I  would,  peradventure,  blow  thee 
and  thy  ships  sky-high,  henckers  knechts  and  all." 

"No  use  in  shedding  Christian  blood !"  exclaimed 
the  knight.  "  Why,  d — n  my  blood,  governor,  if 
I  don't  think  you've  turned  papist.  Why,  'sblood  ! 
what  would  become  of  us  soldiers,  if  there  was  to 
be  no  cutting  of  throats,  hey  ?  Would  you  make 
rascal  leather-aprons  of  us,  and  set  us  cheating  in 
a  small  way  for  a  living,  instead  of  growing  rich 
by  plundering  towns,  and  noble  feats  of  arms? 
But  come,  the  time  is  just  out ;  is  it  capitulation, 
or  must  I  wipe  thy  town  out  of  the  map  of  the 
universe  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  ?" 

VOL.  n — o 


146  KONINGSMARKE. 

"  Patience — patience,  sir  knight ;  where  is  the 
use  of  being  so  hasty  ?  You  see  I  am  in  no  hurry." 

"  Faith,  governor,"  replied  the  other,  "  that  is 
generally  the  case.  There  is  all  the  difference  in 
the  world  between  one  who  gives  and  one  who 
takes  ;  but  come,  security  of  person  and  property 
is  the  word,  and  where  these  are  safe,  what  sig 
nifies  a  change  of  masters,  hey  ?" 

"  And  the  honour  of  the  Swedish  crown  ?" 
replied  the  Heer. 

"  Oh  !  as  to  that  it  shall  be  as  full  of  honour  as 
an  egg's  full  of  meat.  I  shall  take  special  care 
of  that  myself!" 

"  And  our  religion  ?" 

"  Nobody  shall  touch  a  hair  of  its  head.  You 
may  have  just  what  you  like,  and  as  much  as  you 
will,  always  excepting  popery,  which  I  have  sworn 
against,  and  Presbyterianism,  which  his  excellency 
Governor  Lovelace  doth  not  abide,  drunk  or  sober." 

"  Well,  well,"  quoth  the  Heer,  with  a  long  and 
deep-drawn  sigh,  "  if  I  could  keep  it  from  thee,  I 
would  bury  thee,  thy  comrades,  thy  governor,  and 
thy  king,  in  the  sand  of  this  good  river,  ere  I  would 
give  up  my  sword.  As  it  is — here,  take  it ;  and 
now  I  am  resigned  to  the  lot  of  a  private  man,  a 
situation  which  all  great  persons  fall  in  love  with, 
when  they  can  do  no  better.  I  will  retire  unto 
my  little  farm  yonder,  and  plant  cabbages,  like 
another  Dioclesian." 

So  saying,  the  Heer  delivered  up  his  trusty 


KONINGSMARKE.  147 

blade  ;  and  thus  the  dominion  of  New  Swedeland 
passed  from  the  superintendence  of  the  Heer  Piper 
for  ever.  No  prodigy,  that  we  know  of,  accompa 
nied  this  transfer  of  empire,  which,  by  the  way, 
Dominie  Kanttwell  pronounced  a  judgment  upon 
the  people  of  Elsingburgh,  who  about  this  time 
began  somewhat  to  relapse  into  the  wicked  practice 
of  ballad-singing. 

After  taking  formal  possession  of  Elsingburgh 
and  its  dependances,  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign, 
firing  a  salute  in  honour  of  his  conquest,  and  ap 
pointing  a  provisional  junta,  Sir  Robert  Carre 
weighed  anchor,  and  returned  with  his  fleet  to 
New- York,  where,  on  reporting  his  success,  his 
excellency  Governor  Lovelace  gave  a  great  turtle- 
feast,  at  which  his  five  newly-created  aldermen 
are  reported  to  have  done  great  credit  to  the  gov 
ernor's  selection,  by  their  excellent  judgment  in 
eating.  The  only  remarkable  circumstance  which 
followed  the  capture  of  Elsingburgh  was  the  mys 
terious  disappearance  of  the  Long  Finne,  who  was 
missing  from  the  time  of  Sir  Robert's  departure  ; 
but  whether  he  went  with  him,  was  kidnapped,  or 
forcibly  carried  off,  or  what  was  become  of  him, 
none  knew,  or  at  least,  if  any  one  did  know,  the 
secret  was  kept  with  singular  discretion. 

Various  were  the  conjectures  of  the  people  of 
the  village,  as  to  the  strange  disappearance  of  the 
youth ;  but  as  not  one  of  these  came  near  the  truth, 
we  shall  not  trouble  the  reader  with  reciting  them. 


148  KONINGSMARKE. 

The  good  Heer  was  sorely  perplexed,  and  could 
liot  help  reverting  to  those  suspicions  which  had 
arisen  in  his  mind  on  the  first  appearance  of  the 
Long  Finne,  as  related  in  the  early  part  of  this 
history.  These  suspicions  were  strengthened  by 
the  insinuations  of  Othma-n  Pfegel  and  the  Dominie, 
who  both  related  certain  mysterious  facts  concern 
ing  Koningsmarke,  which,  whether  true  or  false, 
afforded  grounds  for  a  suspicion  that  there  was  a 
good  understanding  betwixt  him  and  the  English 
commander.  As  to  our  poor  blue-eyed  village- 
maid,  the  fair  and  gentle  Christina,  though  her 
feelings  were  kept  to  herself,  or,  at  least,  vented 
only  in  solitude  and  darkness,  yet  we  can  venture 
to  affirm,  that  she  had  her  own  thoughts  of  this 
mysterious  affair.  Young  women,  and  especially 
young  women  in  love,  judging  by  themselves,  are 
prone  to  ascribe  every  action  of  their  lovers  to  the 
influence  of  that  single  passion,  which,  while  it 
subsists  in  all  its  youthful  warmth  and  purity,  is 
their  own  guide  and  polar  star.  Christina  thus 
attributed  the  disappearance  of  Koningsmarke, 
not  to  any  treasonable  practices  against  the  colony, 
or  any  fear  of  discovery  and  punishment,  but  to 
pique  or  disappointment,  on  account  of  her  having 
so  often  resisted  his  persuasions  for  a  speedy  union. 
44  But  if  so,  he  will  think  better  of  it,  and  return 
speedily,"  would  she  say  to  her  innocent  heart, 
which,  even  at  that  moment,  trembled  with  a  latent 
fear,  lest  the  promised  hope  might  never  be  real- 


KONINGSMARKE.  149 

ized.  Every  hour  that  passed  away  without 
bringing  him  back,  diminished  her  confidence  in 
the  hope  of  his  return  ;  and  when  a  fortnight  had 
elapsed,  without  either  seeing  or  hearing  of  him, 
her  pale  cheek  and  dim  eye,  her  careless  dress,  and 
her  indifference  to  those  little  domestic  cares  and 
incidents  which  so  pleasantly  and  beneficially  em 
ploy  the  hours  of  woman,  all  combined,  served  to 
indicate  to  an  observing  eye,  that  harassing  state 
of  feeling,  which,  when  long  continued,  either 
triumphs  over  the  body  or  the  mind. 


VOL.  II — 0  2 


BOOK  NINTH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

In  which  the  author  turns  traitor,  and  betrays  the  secrets  of 
the  craft. 

THIS  being  the  last  time  we  shall  appear  in  our 
own  proper  person  before  the  reader,  in  the  course 
of  the  present  work,  and  as  possibly  we  may  never 
meet  again,  it  has  occurred  to  us,  that  as  it  is  cus 
tomary  for  old  friends,  when  about  to  part  for  ever 
in  this  world,  to  confess  their  secrets  to  each  other, 
disclose  their  inmost  thoughts,  and  ask  each  other's 
forgiveness  for  all  past  offences,  we  will  follow  so 
good  an  example  on  this  occasion.  As  to  the  gentle 
reader,  however,  we  will  not  exact  disclosures  that 
might  possibly  place  him  in  an  awkward  predica 
ment.  If,  as  peradventure  may  have  been  the  case, 
he  hath  sometimes  thought  us  dull,  or  occasionally 
prosing  and  obscure,  so  that  he  was  sometimes 
inclined  to  suspect  that  either  the  author  or  him 
self  lacked  clearness  and  comprehension,  we  give 
him  full  permission  to  keep  all  such  impressions  a 
profound  secret  from  the  whole  world,  and  most 
especially  from  ourselves.  Whatever  confessions 
we  shall  make,  will  be  entirely  disinterested,  and 


152  KONINGSMARKE. 

without  any  view  to  a  similar  confidence  on  the 
part  of  the  reader,  who  is  welcome  to  keep  his 
own  secrets. 

Our  critical  readers  will  have,  no  doubt,  remarked 
that  we  have  taken  most  of  the  mottoes  of  our  chap 
ters,  from  the  works  of  an  old  lady  whose  poetry 
was  never,  we  believe,  very  fashionable,  except  in 
the  nursery.  For  this  we  had  special  good  reasons, 
which,  though  we  have  a  perfect  right  to  keep  to 
ourselves,  we  will  include  in  our  general  confes 
sion.  Candidly  speaking  then,  we  were  governed 
in  our  preference  by  a  vehement  admiration  of  the 
beautiful  simplicity  of  this  old  lady's  writings,  which 
we  think  is  not  to  be  matched  by  any  poet,  ancient 
or  modern.  Many  poets,  it  is  true,  have  lately 
written  verses  entirely,  destitute  of  all  meaning, 
and  remarkable  for  a  childish  simplicity,  very 
edifying  to  exceeding  small  children ;  but,  with 
great  reverence  be  it  spoken,  they  have  never  been 
able  to  reach  the  perfection  of  Mother  Goose  in 
these  respects.  They  cannot  disguise  from  the 
judicious  reader,  that  they  do  really  possess  some 
small  glimmerings  of  understanding,  and  with  all 
their  affectation  of  simplicity,  we  perceive,  very 
distinctly,  that  if  they  were  to  give  nature  fair 
play,  they  could,  in  all  human  probability,  write 
poetry  not  altogether  destitute  of  common  sense. 
Without,  therefore,  meaning  any  disrespect  to  this 
class  of  poets,  whom  we  place  on  the  summit  of 
our  beaver,  we  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that 


KONINGSMARKE.  153 

we  think  Mother  Goose  entitled  to  be  put  at  the 
head  of  the  great  school  of  namby-pamby,  not 
withstanding  the  very  formidable  rivals  that  have 
lately  sprung  up  to  contest  her  claim. 

We  are  aware  that  more  than  one  old-fashioned 
critic  is  of  opinion  that  poetry  is  written  to  be 
understood,  and  that  it  should  not  only  mean  some 
thing,  but  that  the  meaning  should  be  easily  com 
prehended.  But  if  this  is  true,  where  would  be 
the  use  of  writing  poetry  at  all,  if  it  is  like  plain 
prose,  equally  adopted  to  the  most  ordinary  un 
derstanding  ?  The  object  and  end  of  poetry  we 
maintain,  is  to  wrap  our  meaning  up  in  a  certain 
veil  of  obscurity,  which  rouses  the  curiosity  of  the 
reader  sufficiently  to  give  an  interest  to  the  lines, 
and  thus  avoid  the  difficult  task  of  constructing  a 
story  for  that  purpose.  Whether  the  reader  is 
excited  by  a  curiosity  to  know  the  issue  of  the 
tale,  or  the  meaning  of  the  author,  is  quite  a  matter 
of  indifference,  as  the  interest  is,  in  our  opinion,  the 
same.  Pope  says — the  reader  will  excuse  us  for 
quoting  from  one  whose  claim  to  the  title  of  poet 
has  been  almost  forfeited,  by  mingling  too  much 
good  sense  with  his  rhymes — Pope  says,  that 
"  True,  no  meaning  puzzles  more  than  wit,"  and 
hence,  a  poet  who  excels  in  the  obscure,  or  what 
is  still  better,  the  art  of  no  meaning,  is  lawfully 
exempted  from  the  labour  of  exercising  his  inven 
tion  in  the  construction  of  a  story,  or  the  concate 
nation  of  ideas. 


154  KONINGSMARKE. 

This  obscurity  has  been  the  foundation  of  the 
immortality  of  many  of  the  greatest  poets  of  ancient 
and  modern  times,  and  what  is  of  equal  importance, 
has  produced  a  race  of  industrious  commentators, 
which  else  had  probably  never  existed,  except, 
perhaps,  in  the  persons  of  pains-taking  pin-makers, 
or  pickers  of  oakum.  Where  is  the  poet  whose 
fame  is  more  universal  than  that  of  Shakspeare  ? 
Yet,  if  he  was  not  the  most  obscure  writer  that 
ever  existed,  where  is  the  use  of  the  five  hundred 
commentators  that  have  distracted  his  five  hundred 
millions  of  readers,  with  so  many  opposite  inter 
pretations  of  his  meaning,  that  they  are  left  like 
the  honest  gentleman,  who  sets  out  on  a  ride  over 
the  famous  island  of  Manhattan,  and  sees  so  many 
ways  before  him,  that  he  does  not  for  the  soul  of 
him  know  which  to  choose.  We  might  instance 
hundreds  of  other  great  poets,  who,  if  we  believe 
their  commentators,  never  wrote  a  line  in  their 
whole  lives,  that  did  not  require  twenty  more  to 
explain  its  meaning ;  but  will  content  ourselves 
with  this  one,  and  that  the  greatest  and  most 
obscure  of  all,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  his  commen 
tators,  many  of  whom  we  cannot  but  liken  to  the 
wise  man,  who  lighted  his  apartment  by  placing 
the  candle  under  a  bushel. 

Some  of  our  readers  may,  in  like  manner,  find 
fault  with  us,  in  that  our  mottoes  in  general  have 
no  more  application  to  the  subject  matter  of  the 
chapter,  the  nature  of  which  they  are  supposed  to 


KONINGSMARKE.  155 

indicate,  than  the  texts  of  certain  preachers  have 
to  their  sermons.  Now  we  frankly  confess  that 
this  is  entirely  intentional,  and  with  a  view  to  pro 
duce  an  addition  to  the  perplexity  of  the  reader, 
as  well  as  to  veil  the  real  nature  of  what  is  to  fol 
low  from  his  eye.  And  in  this  we  are  fully  justified 
by  the  examples  of  many  popular  writers  of  the 
present  school  of  romance,  whose  sole  object  in 
selecting  their  mottoes,  is  evidently  to  mislead  the 
reader,  and  thus  increase  his  delight  in  finding  the 
contents  of  the  chapter  exactly  what  he  did  not 
anticipate. 

Others  of  our  worthy  and  most  respected  read 
ers,  who  have,  doubtless,  more  than  once  caught 
themselves  yawning,  yea,  napping,  over  some  of 
the  details  and  digressions  in  our  work,  have  per 
haps  accused  us  of  unnecessary  circumlocution, 
wanton  verbosity,  and  unfeeling  minuteness,  in 
description  or  narrative.  Here,  too,  we  confess 
a  wilful  design  ;  and,  in  order  in  some  measure  to 
justify  this  apparently  inexcusable  trifling  with  his 
time  and  patience,  we  will  let  the  reader  into  the 
very  arcana  of  the  great  mystery  of  authorship. 

Be  it  known  to  thee,  then,  O !  most  patient  of 
mortals !  that  the  modern  Macsenases,  the  biblio 
poles  of  the  United — or  as  they  might  aptly  be 
called,  the  Untied  States — are,  for  the  most  part,  a 
race  of  heathens,  belonging  to  no  Christian  church 
that  we  have  any  cognizance  of.  They  are  neither 
Trinitarians  nor  Unitarians,  and  do  eschew  any 


156  KONINGSMARKE. 

work  comprising  more  or  less  than  two  volumes, 
containing  a  certain  number  of  pages.  Whether 
this  exclusive  preference  of  this  particular  number, 
is  derived  from  the  fact  of  its  being  the  precise 
number  of  a  man's  legs,  or  arms,  or  eyes,  or  ears, 
we  have  never  been  able  to  ascertain.  There  is 
some  occult  mystery  in  the  thing,  which  we  leave 
to  the  five  hundred  commentators  of  Shakspeare, 
to  elucidate  into  greater  obscurity. 

But  whatever  be  the  cause,  the  effect  is  exceed 
ingly  lamentable  in  regard  to  all  authors  of  a  short 
wind,  who  consequently  strive  to  contract  their 
journey  and  get  to  the  end  of  it  as  soon  as  possible. 
In  order  to  complete  the  requisite  number  of 
volumes  of  the  prescribed  size,  all  the  art  of  the 
writer,  printer,  papermaker,  and  publisher,  is  put 
in  requisition.  The  former,  instead  of  keeping  his 
story  constantly  in  view,  and  recording  only  such 
particulars  as  are  essential  to  its  progress  and 
catastrophe,  must  beat  the  cover,  like  a  hound  at 
fault,  running  this  way  and  that  way,  and  de 
scribing  various  circles  that  bring  him  just  to  the 
point  where  he  was  before.  The  paper  manufac 
turer  must  invent  a  kind  of  pasteboard,  to  make  the 
book  appear  as  respectable  as  possible  ;  the  printer 
must  scatter  his  types,  so  as  to  cause  them  to  look 
like  unto  a  flock  of  blackbirds  frightened  from  a 
field  of  corn,  and  leave  space  sufficient  for  a  rail 
road  at  each  margin ;  and  the  publisher  must  keep 
it  a  profound  secret,  that  there  is  just  as  much  in 


KONINGSMARKE.  157 

the  two  volumes,  as  might  be  very  conveniently 
comprised  in  one  of  the  same  dimensions. 

But  the  unlucky  author,  and  the  still  more  un 
lucky  readers,  are  after  all  the  real  victims.  The 
former  is  obliged  to  use  all  the  art  of  his  profession, 
not  in  bringing  his  story  to  a  catastrophe,  but  in  pre 
venting  it  from,  as  it  were,  running  ashore  before 
the  voyage  is  concluded.  Hence  it  is  that  the  simple 
and  unknowing  reader,  is  so  frequently  out  of  all 
patience  at  seeing  the  author,  when  the  end  of  the 
tale  lay  as  it  were  directly  under  his  nose,  pretend 
not  to  see  it,  and  turn  away,  to  look  for  it  a  great 
way  off,  or  peradventure  begin  to  talk  about  some 
thing  else,  until  both  the  reader  and  himself  entirely 
forget  where  it  was  they  left  the  thread  of  the  story. 

Various  and  vexatious  indeed  are  the  shifts  and 
expedients  to  which  the  unfortunate  author  is 
obliged  to  resort,  to  spin  out  the  requisite  number 
of  pages.  He  must  record  the  most  minute  and 
insignificant  particulars,  and  leave  nothing  to  the 
imagination  of  the  reader.  Thus  though  it  must 
be  obvious  to  the  most  ordinary  understanding, 
that  the  hero  and  heroine  must  necessarily  eat 
and  sleep  like  other  people,  it  behooves  the  author 
carefully  to  note  down  whenever  they  do  so,  and 
apprize  the  reader  at  the  same  time,  whether  they 
slept  comfortably  and  ate  with  a  good  appetite  ; 
nor  ought  he  on  any  occasion  to  omit  the  bill 
of  fare,  most  especially  if  it  consists  of  a  goodly 
array  of  French  cookery,  which  is  indispensable  in 

VOL.  II P 


158  KONINGSMARKE. 

a  fashionable  novel.  Neither  must  he  ever  on  any 
occasion  put  his  principal  characters  to  sleep,  with 
out  especially  describing  the  bed,  the  curtains,  the 
furniture  of  the  room  and  the  room  itself,  so  that 
every  reader  may  have  a  perfect  idea  of  the  whole. 

In  the  morning,  when  they  get  up,  he  must  play 
the  dressing-maid,  or  valet,  and  be  careful  to  equip 
them  in  character,  omitting  not  a  single  article, 
however  minute.  Nor  is  this  all;  he  must  be 
careful  to  dress  them  at  least  three  times  a  day  in 
a  genteel  and  becoming  manner,  taking  especial 
care  that  they  appear  in  the  most  approved  cos 
tume,  so  as  not  to  disgrace  the  author,  or  bring  his 
knowledge  of  these  important  matters  into  con 
tempt  with  the  fashionable  reader.  If  he  invites 
one  of  his  dramatis  persona  to  a  grand  dinner,  or 
a  grand  party,  he  knows  nothing  of  the  art  of 
writing  if  he  omits  to  record  the  exact  juxta-posi- 
tion  of  the  company  at  the  former,  or  the  exact 
number  of  people  at  the  latter,  together  with  all 
the  particulars  of  the  decorations,  the  fashion  and 
cost  of  the  lamps,  the  colours  and  materials  of  the 
curtains,  and  most  especially  the  names  of  all  the 
titled  persons  present,  this  last  being  one  of  the 
most  important  requisites  in  a  fashionable  novel  or 
romance. 

Should  he  peradventure  find  himself  at  a  loss  for 
an  incident  to  serve  as  a  connecting  link  to  his 
story,  he  is  obliged  to  resort  to  the  expedient  of 
introducing  a  character  or  characters,  having  no 


KONINGSMARKE.  159 

connexion,  and  no  agency  in  the  business  of  the 
piece,  and  set  them  discussing  politics,  religion, 
metaphysics,  or  political  economy,  through  some 
half  a  dozen  pages,  during  which,  though  the  story 
stands  stock  still,  the  book  goes  on  swimmingly. 
Indeed  his  never-failing  resource  on  these  occa 
sions,  is  to  keep  on  talking,  until  he  can  turn 
himself  round  a  little,  and  see  his  way  clearly. 

Sometimes  he  may  be  likened  to  a  fashionable 
well-dressed  young  gentleman,  who  unexpectedly 
beholds  his  tailor  approaching  with  a  long  bill  in 
his  hand,  and  pretending  not  to  see  him,  turns  sud 
denly  round  a  corner  and  distances  him  with  a 
quick  step.  So  the  unlucky  author,  more  than  once 
in  the  course  of  his  lucubrations,  finds  himself  unex 
pectedly  just  at  the  end  of  his  story,  when  the  first 
volume  is  scarcely  completed,  and  is  fain  to  wheel 
about,  and  scamper  away  without  once  looking 
behind  him  until  he  is  fairly  out  of  sight  of  the  un 
welcome  intruder. 

Sometimes  he  resembles  the  redoubtable  com 
mander  of  a  ship,  who  after  driving  about  in  a  fog 
for  days,  all  at  once  finds  himself  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  wrecked  on  a  lee-shore,  before  his 
voyage  is  half  finished.  In  such  a  situation  nothing 
is  left  him  but  to  set  all  hands  to  work  to  make  as 
much  noise  as  possible,  by  talking,  hallooing,  and 
bawling  through  their  tin  trumpets,  until  haply  the 
vessel  claws  offby  degrees  and  continues  her  course 
triumphantly.  Just  so  the  writer — who  is  mulcted 


160  KONINGSMARKE. 

in  two  volumes  by  the  bookseller,  must  always 
resort  to  noise  and  talking  when  in  jeopardy  of 
gaining  land  before  his  time,  in  which  case  he 
would,  as  it  were,  forfeit  the  passage-money,  and 
make  a  losing  venture. 

We  could  enumerate  a  number  of  other  excel 
lent  expedients  for  lengthening  out  a  tale  after  the 
manner  of  the  most  approved  writers,  but  shall 
stop  short  here,  lest  the  reader  might  suspect  us  of 
inditing  this  and  our  other  introductory  chapters 
solely  for  a  similar  purpose,  a  suspicion  than  which 
nothing  can  be  more  unjust  and  unfounded.  We 
take  this  opportunity  solemnly  to  assure  him,  that 
we  hold  ourselves  above  such  arts  ;  that  we  con 
sider  the  said  chapters  the  very  cream  of  our 
book,  and  that  if  he  will  only  ponder  over  it  with 
due  attention,  he  may,  if  possessed  of  an  ordinary 
comprehension,  become  in  time  quite  as  wise  as 
the  author.  With  the  sincere  wish  that  he  may 
do  so,  we  commence  the  ninth  and  last  book  of 
our  history,  bidding  him  at  the  same  time  an  affec 
tionate  farewell. 


KONINGSMARKE.  161 


CHAPTER  II. 

"If  ye  be  set  on  mervaylynge, 
Then  shall  ye  heare  a  mervaylouse  thing ; 
And  though,  indeed,  all  be  not  new, 
Yet  suer  the  most  part  shall  be  true." 

TIME  and  the  world  alike  move  on  unceasingly 
and  in  the  selfsame  undeviating  pace,  let  what  will 
happen.  The  keenest  misfortunes  of  individuals, 
the  death  of  men  who  have  filled  the  world  with 
their  glory,  the  change  of  dynasties,  and  the  revo 
lutions  of  empires,  affect  not  the  general  course  of 
events,  or  the  great  business  of  the  human  bee-hive. 
The  daily  wants  of  mankind,  the  necessity  of  ex 
ertion,  the  gratification  of  the  passions,  one  or 
other,  or  all  combined,  still  keep  up  the  busy  cur 
rent  of  life,  which  continues  its  course  without 
ceasing,  and  will  only  be  finally  arrested,  when 
the  consummation  of  the  great  scheme  of  infinite 
wisdom  and  power  shall  have  arrived. 

Three  weeks  had  now  nearly  elapsed,  since  the 
total  subversion  of  the  authority  of  the  Heer,  and 
the  mysterious  disappearance  of  the  Long  Finne. 
The  inhabitants  of  Elsingburgh  continued  in  the 
quiet  pursuit  of  their  daily  avocations,  and  scarcely 
ever  thought  of  the  great  revolution  that  had  over 
turned,  in  the  language  of  historians,  their  happi 
ness  and  prosperity.  It  was  only  the  Heer  and 

VOL,  II P  2 


162  KONINGSMARKE. 

his  gentle  daughter,  on  whom  this  wave  of  ill-for 
tune  had  especially  expended  its  violence.  The 
former  not  only  felt  his  diminished  consequence, 
but  now  actually  experienced  what  may  be  truly 
called  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  incident  to 
human  nature.  Being  restricted  from  all  partici 
pation  in  the  new  government,  he  knew  not  what  to 
do  with  himself,  and  was  at  length  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  taking  two  naps  extra,  to  assist  him 
in  getting  through  the  livelong,  tedious  day.  The 
fiend  ennui  laid  hold  of  him  with  leaden  gripe,  and, 
had  it  not  been  that  he  at  last  luckily  took  to  the 
Job-like  business  of  fishing  inveterately  in  the 
neighbouring  river  for  amusement,  it  is  impossible 
to  say  what  might  have  been  the  ill  consequences, 
to  a  man  having  nothing  to  do,  and  at  the  same  time 
being  naturally  inclined  to  be  busy.  As  for  poor 
Christina,  she  complained  not,  she  wept  not,  except 
in  secret ;  and  to  those  who  judge  of  the  depths 
of  the  waters  by  the  noise  they  make,  rather  than 
by  their  stillness,  she  seemed  as  if  nothing  was  the 
matter  with  her. 

In  this  state  were  the  various  persons  and  things 
appertaining  to  our  history,  when,  on  a  certain 
night,  there  gathered  together,  about  the  spacious 
chimney  of  Master  Oldale's  castle,  a  group  of 
village  blades,  whose  deeds  of  drinking  used  to 
stand  recorded  in  veritable  chalk,  in  one  corner 
of  that  sanctum  sanctorum,  vulgarly  'yclept  the  bar. 
The  company  consisted  of  Wolfgang  Langfanger, 


KONINGSMARKE.  163 

Othman  Pfegel,  and  Lob  Dotterel,  who,  being  each 
equally  deprived  of  their  vocation  under  the  an 
cient  system  of  Elsingburgh,  were  compelled,  in 
sheer  self-defence,  to  pass  part  of  the  time  at  the 
inn,  to  hear  the  news,  and  kill  the  common  enemy 
of  all  idlers.  Besides  these,  there  was  Master 
Oldale,  who,  like  a  trusty  publican  and  sinner, 
that  understood  his  business,  was  ever  accustomed 
to  encourage  the  practice  of  tippling,  not  only  by 
precept,  but  example.  The  fifth  personage,  who 
completed  the  group,  was  a  singular  itinerant 
genius,  called  Lowright,  a  travelling  pedler,  tinker, 
and  what  not,  who  regularly  traversed  the  wilder 
ness  between  New- York  and  the  river  Delaware, 
once  a  year,  with  his  pack  on  his  back,  and  as 
regularly,  as  is  usual  with  such  losel  wights,  did 
incontinently  cheat  about  one-half  of  the  men,  and 
all  the  women  of  Elsingburgh.  He  was  well  known, 
and,  to  say  truth,  not  much  respected,  not  only 
among  the  Indians,  but  also  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  little  villages,  that  now  began  to  peep  forth  in 
groups  of  log  huts,  at  intervals  "  few  and  far  be 
tween,"  in  the  desert.  Mankind  unquestionably 
have  a  natural  aptitude  to  be  cheated  in  one  way 
or  other;  sometimes  by  rulers,  sometimes  by  slaves, 
and  sometimes  by  pedlers.  Besides,  Lowright  was 
not  only  a  pestilent  rogue,  but  a  merry  rogue,  who 
sung  excellent  songs,  told  the  most  bloody  stories, 
and  withal  never  cheated  any  body  but  in  jest. 
When  charged  with  his  rogueries,  he  always  turned 


164  KONINGSMARKE. 

them  off  with  an  excellent  joke,  accompanied  by 
an  irresistible  laugh ;  and  it  is  well  known,  that  if 
you  keep  people,  and  especially  women,  in  a  good 
humour,  you  may  cheat  them  out  of  any  thing. 
Much  of  the  news  that  passed  between  New-York 
and  Elsingburgh  was  brought  by  this  strolling 
wight ;  for  at  that  time  it  was  a  rare  thing  for  any 
one  to  venture  on  a  journey  through  this  wild 
country. 

It  was  now  waxing  late  in  the  evening  ;  the 
night  was  becoming  excessively  dark,  and  the 
flashes  of  lightning  which  penetrated  the  crevices 
of  the  windows,  followed  by  the  distant  and  mut 
tering  thunder,  gave  indication  of  a  coming  storm. 
The  conversation  turned  on  the  late  events  of  the 
village,  and  especially  the  fate  of  the  goblin  Cupid, 
and  his  mysterious  grandmother,  whose  night-walk 
ings  still  continued  the  common  theme  of  the  vil 
lage.  Lob  Dotterel  was  called  upon  to  verify 
these  legends,  and,  after  wetting  his  whistle,  look 
ing  cautiously  about  the  room,  and  drawing  his 
chair  a  little  more  within  the  circle,  cleared  his 
throat,  and  attested  to  the  following  facts,  in  the 
midst  of  peals  of  thunder,  that  now  became  more 
loud  and  frequent : 

"  You  must  know,"  said  the  ci-devant  high  con 
stable,  "  that  one  night — it  was  the  Wednesday 
night  following  the  death  of  Cupid  and  his  grand 
mother — I  had  been  out  late  on  business."  Here 
Master  Oldale  tipped  the  company  a  wink,  which 


KONINGSMARKE.  165 

conveyed  to  their  comprehension  that  Lob  had 
been  tippling  at  the  sign  of  the  Indian  Queen, 
rather  more  than  beseemed  a  discreet,  sober  man. 
"  When  I  got  home,  I  proceeded  to  undress  my 
self,  and  was  just  standing  before  the  glass,  tying 
on  my  nightcap,  when,  as  I  am  a  Christian  man 
and  a  living  sinner,  I  saw  in  the  glass  the  face  of 
the  black  witch  Bombie,  looking  just  over  my 
shoulder,  with  eyes  as  red  as  coals,  and  lips  moving 
as  if  she  was  speaking,  though  I  could  hear  nothing. 
I  looked  round,  though  my  head  moved  on  my 
shoulders,  like  a  door  on  rusty  hinges,  but  nobody 
was  there.  I  looked  in  the  glass  again,  and  there 
was  the  ghastly  face  glaring  over  my  shoulder  as 
before,  with  red  eyes,  and  blue  lips  moving  with  a 
quivering  motion,  without  uttering  a  word.  Often, 
as  I  turned  my  head  to  look  behind  me,  I  saw 
nothing ;  but  the  moment  I  turned  to  the  looking- 
glass,  the  face  appeared,  just  peering  over  my 
shoulder.  Presently  I  felt  two  cold  hands  on  my 
back,  and  the  face  in  the  glass  came  so  close  to 
mine,  that  I  felt  its  breath  against  my  cheek." 

"  I  never  heard  of  a  ghost  breathing  before," 
said  Lowright ;  "  but  maybe  the  spirits  of  ladies 
of  colour  are  different  from  those  of  white  people. 
Go  on,  master  constable." 

"  The  weight  of  the  hands  on  my  shoulders  grew 
heavier  and  heavier,  till  at  last  I  fell  flat  on  my  face 
upon  the  floor,  unable  to  support  it  any  longer. 
What  time  I  lay  there  I  can't  tell,  but  when  I  came 


166  KONINGSMARKE. 

to  myself,  and  looked  about,  there  was  nothing  in 
the  room  but  old  Grip,  the  dog,  who  lay  fast  asleep 
in  a  corner." 

As  Master  Dotterel  concluded  his  story,  there 
came  a  terrible  flash  of  lightning,  followed  by  an 
awful  crash  of  thunder,  that  seemed  to  have  dashed 
the  universe  to  atoms.  The  company  gradually 
contracted  their  little  circle,  until  their  knees  mixed 
with  each  other,  and,  late  as  it  was,  no  one  seemed 
inclined  to  go  to  rest,  amid  the  uproar  without 
and  the  solemnity  within  doors.  The  crash  was 
followed  by  an  awful  silence,  until  the  tinker  ex 
claimed,  "  There  will  be  bitter  weather  by-and-by, 
and,  for  my  part,  I  could  never  sleep  in  a  thunder 
storm.  Come,  landlord,  another  tankard,  and  Mas 
ter  Wolfgang  will  tell  us  a  story,  to  pass  away  the 
time." 

The  tankard  was  brought,  and  Master  Wolf 
gang,  at  the  request  of  the  company,  commenced 
his  story  as  follows : 

"  Many  years  ago,  it  was  in  my  native  country 
of  Sweden,  I  happened  once  to  be  benighted  at  a 
distance  of  several  miles  from  any  house.  It  was  in 
the  summer  season,  and  much  such  a  night  as  this. 
The  thunder  rolled  incessantly,  followed  by  contin 
ued  flashes  of  lightning  which  blinded  both  me  and 
my  horse.  By  the  light  of  one  of  these,  I  thought 
I  could  distinguish  an  old  ruined  building,  that  I 
took  to  be  the  remains  of  a  church,  which  I  knew 
from  report  was  situated  somewhere  hereabouts. 


KONINGSMARKE.  167 

I  heard  the  roar  of  the  tempest  approaching  nearer 
and  nearer,  while  the  big  drops  of  rain  began  to 
fall  thicker  and  faster  every  moment.  There  was 
no  alternative,  but  to  weather  the  storm  without 
a  shelter,  or  seek  it  in  the  old  church,  which,  though 
the  windows  were  broken  and  the  doors  decayed, 
was  still  better  than  nothing.  I  had  an  invincible 
antipathy  to  churches  and  churchyards  at  night ; 
but  then  I  hated  a  wet  jacket  even  more  than  I 
feared  ghosts  ;  so  I  e'en  dismounted,  led  my  horse 
inside  of  the  door,  and  groped  my  way  into  a  pew 
in  one  corner,  where  there  was  tolerable  shelter. 
Presently  the  rain  came  in  torrents,  the  thunder 
rolled,  and  burst,  and  crashed,  and  the  lightning 
flashed  upon  the  white  tombstones,  that  peeped 
above  the  sills  of  the  windows.  Soon  I  began  to 
feel  the  effects  of  a  long  day's  journey,  and,  stretch 
ing  myself  out  on  the  seat,  I  gradually  fell  fast 
asleep.  After  sometime,  I  was  disturbed  by  a 
strange  sound,  not  unlike  the  tremulous  quaver  of 
the  screech-owl,  *  hoo  \  hoo  !  hoo  !'  I  opened  my 
eyes,  and  the  first  object  they  met  was  a  tall  ghastly 
female  figure,  leaning  over  me,  with  her  face  close 
to  mine.  During  njy  nap  it  had  cleared  up,  and 
the  bright  moonbeams,  pouring  into  the  windows, 
and  ruined  roof  and  walls,  fell  directly  on  the 
spectre  before  me.  To  my  dying  day,  I  shall  never 
forget  the  lank  face,  hollow  cheeks,  and  glaring  eyes, 
as,  with  raised  hands,  the  long,  skinny,  and  bony 
fingers  of  which  were  extended  over  me,  it  re- 


168  KONINGSMARKE. 

peated  the  quaver,  in  a  shrill,  hollow  tone,  and 
bent  down  and  kissed  me,  with  lips  that  seemed 
covered  with  the  damps  and  mildews  of  the  sepul 
chre.  I  shrunk,  and  shuddered  as  if  death  had 
sealed  me  his  own  in  that  horrible  kiss,  which  was 
followed  by  the  same  tremulous  '  hoo  !  hoo  !  hoo  !' 
My  limbs  refused  to  obey  the  impulse  of  my  fears, 
and,  for  the  life  of  me,  I  could  not  make  a  single 
p^ort  to  escape,  but  felt  as  I  had  sometimes  done 
_n  dreams,  where  we  struggle  in  vain  to  stir  hand 
or  foot.  At  this  moment  the  day  began  to  dawn, 
and  a  gun  from  a  neighbouring  fortress  announced 
the  morning.  The  figure  started  at  the  explosion, 
which  broke  on  the  deathlike  silence,  and  echoed 
far  and  wide.  'Hoo  !  hoo  !  hoo  !'  cried  the  spectre 
of  horror,  as  she  stooped  again  and  gave  me  one 
of  her  infernal  kisses.  She  then  moved  slowly 
away,  and  disappeared,  I  could  not  tell  how,  in  the 
obscurity  of  a  distant  corner  of  the  ruined  building. 
"  When  I  was  assured  of  its  being  gone,  I  started 
up,  mounted  my  horse,  and  proceeded  rapidly  to 
a  village  about  four  miles  distant,  where  I  ordered 
breakfast.  I  had  scarcely  been  here  half  an  hour 
when  I  heard  the  same  noise  which  had  alarmed 
me  so  much  in  the  church.  '  What  is  that  T  I  ex 
claimed,  as  one  of  the  attendants  came  in.  '  Oh,' 
replied  she,  ''tis  only  a  poor  crazy  woman,  that 
wanders  about  these  parts,  but  never  hurts  any 
body,  and  never  says  any  thing  but  'hoo!  hoc! 
hoo !' '  '  And  kisses  every  body  ?'  '  No — they  sav 


KONINGSMARKE.  169 

she  only  kisses  those  who  are  going  to  die  very 
soon.'  I  kept  the  secret  of  her  salute,  although,  to 
tell  the  honest  truth,  gentlemen,  I  considered  my 
self,  for  a  whole  year  afterward,  as  little  better 
than  a  dead  man.  This  happened  more  than 
twenty  years  ago,  and  yet,  at  times,  and  especially 
in  such  a  night  as  this,  the  impression  of  my  adven 
ture  in  the  old  ruined  church  is  as  fresh  as  if  it  had 
happened  yesterday.  But  come,  Master  Lowright, 
the  night  wears  apace,  and  there  is  no  ventur 
ing  out  in  the  uproar  and  darkness.  You  must 
keep  us  company  in  another  tankard  and  another 
story." 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  replied  the  jolly  pedler ; 
"let  me  wet  my  whistle,  and  you  shall  have  a 
story  that  will  astonish  you  all."  The  tankard 
passed  round,  and  Master  Lowright  commenced 
his  legend. 

"  You  must  know,  gossips,  that,  though  I  come 
from  New- York,  I  don't  live  in  the  city,  but  in  a 
deep  forest  about  four  miles  off  on  the  island,  where 
every  thing  is  as  wild,  and  in  as  perfect  a  state  of 
nature,  as  it  was  the  day  of  the  deluge.  My  house 
is  of  a  single  story,  containing  a  single  room,  which 
serves  me  for  parlour,  kitchen,  and  hall.  My  bed 
is  in  the  attic  story  above,  and  is  gained  by  means 
of  a  ladder.  I  have  no  family,  except  a  dog  and 
a  cat,  and  there  is  not  a  house  within  sight  of  my 
solitary  abode.  Why  I  have  chosen  such  a  situa 
tion  is  an  affair  of  my  own,  and  I  shall,  therefore, 

VOL.  II — Q 


170  KONINGSMARKfc. 

not  trouble  you  with  my  reasons  for  preferring  this 
retired  and  lonely  spot. 

"  One  summer  evening,  I  was  sitting  smoking 
my  pipe  at  the  door  of  my  castle — it  was  some 
where,  I  think,  about  four  years  ago — when  I 
observed  a  man  coming  towards  me,  with  a  staff 
in  his  hand,  and  dressed  in  the  style  of  a  common 
beggar.  As  he  advanced  up  the  little  path  which 
led  to  my  dwelling,  I  observed  that  he  was  tall 
and  straight  in  his  person,  and  that  his  face  was 
remarkably  handsome.  Altogether,  indeed,  he  was 
the  likeliest  person  I  have  seen  in  a  long  time, 
except  the  young  man  called  the  Long  Finne, 
who  was  here  last  year,  and  whom  I  saw  carried 
to  prison  in  New- York  the  other  day."  "  What !" 
exclaimed  Wolfgang  Langfanger,  "  is  the  Long 
Finne  in  New- York?"  "Ay,  that  he  is,  to  his 
cost,  for  he  is  condemned  to  be  whipt  through  the 
streets,  and  afterward  sold  to  Barbadoes  as  a  slave, 
for  having  conspired,  it  is  said,  with  the  savages, 
against  the  English  power.  But  I  will  go  on  with 
my  story,  for  I  see  Master  Dotterel  begins  to  wax 
sleepy. 

"  As  the  beggar  approached  me,  he  began,  in 
the  usual  way,  to  beg  for  a  lodging,  as  the  night 
was  setting  in  dark,  and  the  path  to  the  city,  being 
through  the  woods,  would  be  difficult  to  find.  '  But 
I  have  only  one  bed  in  my  house,'  replied  I,  '  and 
that  I  generally  like  to  keep  to  myself.' 

"'Beggars  must  not  be  choosers,' replied  he; 


KONINGSMARKE.  171 

« I  can  sleep  on  the  hearth  by  the  fire.  I  have 
made  harder  lodging  than  that  in  my  time,  and  so 
I  have  wherewithal  over  my  head,  I  care  little 
what  is  under  it,  provided  it  is  not  harder  than  a 
stone.' 

"  'But,'  replied  I, '  I  know  you  not ;  I  live  alone 
here  in  the  woods,  and  it  is  not  usual  to  take  peo 
ple  into  our  houses,  without  knowing  something 
of  them.' 

"  *  What !'  quoth  the  beggar,  looking  round  on 
my  poor  household  with  a  dry  sort  of  air,  « you  are 
afraid  I  shall  rob  you  ?  Only  to  think  of  the  differ^ 
ence  between  us  !  I  am  equally  a  stranger  to  you, 
and  yet,  you  see,  I  am  not  afraid  to  sleep  in  your 
house.  But  the  beggar  sings  before  the  robber/ 

"  The  humour  of  the  rogue  pleased  me ;  I  at 
length  consented  that  he  should  stay  the  night,  and 
make  his  pillow  on  the  hearth-stone.  We  sat  up 
till  almost  midnight,  chatting  over  our  adventures, 
and  then  went  to  bed.  But  some  how  or  other,  I 
couldn't  sleep;  or,' if  I  did  fall  asleep  for  a  moment, 
it  was  only  to  be  awakened  with  frightful  dreams. 
On  one  of  these  occasions,  I  thought  I  heard  a  stir 
in  the  room  below,  and,  cautiously  creeping  to  the 
opening,  saw  a  sight  that  froze  every  drop  of  my 
blood  into  an  icicle." 

"  What  was  it?"  exclaimed  Lob  Dotterel,  open 
ing  one  eye,  and  drawing  his  chair  closer  into  the 
corner. 

"  It  was  the  beggar,  busily  employed  in  whet- 


172  KONINGSMARKE. 

ting  the  point  of  a  knife,  that  appeared  to  me  at 
least  a  yard  long.  Ever  and  anon  he  would  feel 
the  point,  shake  his  head,  as  much  as  to  say, '  it 
won't  do  yet,'  and  then  set  to  work  sharpening  it 
again.  I  had  not  the  least  doubt  that  he  intended 
to  murder  me,  under  an  impression  that  I  had 
hoarded  up  money  in  my  business.  I  therefore 
prepared  myself  for  defending  my  life  as  well  as  I 
could.  I  had  a  pistol,  but,  unluckily,  it  wanted 
a  lock,  and  an  old  rusty  sword,  without  edge  or 
point."  "  Ay,"  quoth  master  constable,  "like  one 
of  your  excellent  razors."  "  Or  rather,  like  your 
excellent  wit,"  replied  the  pedler,  and  incontinently 
got  the  laugh  on  his  side. 

"  What  was  to  be  done  ?  I  began  to  distil  into 
a  jelly,  and  felt  both  courage  and  strength  fast 
fleeting  away,  as  too  often  happens  in  these  hours 
of  sore  extremity.  Desperation  at  last  supplied  the 
place  of  valour  and  discretion,  and  I  determined, 
instead  of  waiting  till  the  wretch  had  sharpened  his 
knife,  so  as  to  stick  me  through  and  through  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  to  come  upon  him  by  surprise, 
and  carry  the  war  into  his  own  camp.  I  therefore 
suddenly  plumped  down  upon  him,  with  my  trusty 
blade  in  hand — and  what  d'ye  think,  gentlemen, 
was  the  consequence  ?" 

"  Why,  you  killed  him,"  said  the  whole  company 
with  one  voice. 

"  No  !    HE  KILLED  ME  !" 

Here  the  whole  company  started  up,  as  if  by 


KONINGSMARKE.  173 

one  impulse,  and  stared  in  silent  horror  at  Master 
Lowright,  marvelling  whether  it  was  really  him 
self  sitting  among  them,  or  only  the  ghost  of 
himself. 

At  the  moment  of  this  ecstatic  climax  of  wonder 
and  dismay,  there  was  a  loud  crash  of  thunder, 
succeeded  by  a  tremendous  bouncing,  thumping, 
howling,  and  shrieking,  in  the  garret  above,  that 
appalled  the  stoutest  hearts  of  the  whole  company, 
and  caused  each  man  to  press  close  to  his  neigh 
bour  in  trembling  agitation.  Presently  something 
was  heard  to  fall,  with  a  weight  that  shook  the 
floor,  through  the  opening  which  led  by  a  ladder 
into  the  attic  story ;  the  lamp,  that  stood  nearly 
under  it,  was  suddenly  extinguished,  and  there  was 
a  hissing,  and  spitting,  and  howling,  in  the  dark 
ness,  as  if  the  fiends  had  suddenly  decamped  from 
their  ordinary  abodes,  to  take  lodgings  at  Master 
Oldale's  castle.  All  was  horror,  dismay,  and  con 
fusion  ;  not  a  soul  dared  stir  from  the  spot  where 
he  was  planted,  and  not  a  soul  uttered  a  word, 
save  the  ci-devant  high  constable,  who,  on  this 
occasion,  disgraced  his  valorous  exploits  among 
the  Indians,  by  roaring  lustily  for  help,  being  fast 
held  by  the  leg,  by  Othman  Pfegel,  who  had  tum 
bled  flat  on  the  floor.  The  cry  brought  Mistress 
Oldale,  with  a  candle,  which  at  once  disclosed  the 
cause  of  all  this  uproar,  in  the  persons  of  two  cats, 
who  had,  agreeably  to  the  custom  of  these  amiable 
animals,  been  making  "  cruel  love,"  after  the  man- 

VOL.  II Q  2 


174  KONINGSMARKE. 

ner  of  certain  affectionate  couples,  who  act  upon 
the  old  saying,  that  the  falling  out  of  lovers  is  the 
renewal  of  love.  The  discovery  forthwith  put  an 
end  to  the  merrimaking.  Each  man  felt  an  in 
ternal  consciousness  of  having  been  frightened  at 
nothing,  and  sneaked  away  to  bed,  without  the 
ceremony  of  bidding  good  night. 


KONINGSMARKE.  175 


CHAPTER  III. 

"  He  is  in  prison,  let  us  go  to  him — 
He  cannot  come  to  us.     His  thoughts  alone  are  free ; 
They'll  fly  abroad,  like  to  old  Noah's  bird, 
And  tell  him  that  the  earth  affords  no  place 
Of  rest  but  that — no  friend  to  take  his  hand, 
And  buoy  him  above  the  boundless  waves. 
Let's  go  to  him." 

NEWS  fly  swift  everywhere,  but  most  of  all  in 
a  country  village.  It  was  soon  communicated  to 
the  Heer  Piper  and  his  fair  daughter,  that  the 
Long  Finne  had  been  carried  a  prisoner  to  New- 
York,  and  condemned  to  be  whipt,  and  sold  to 
slavery.  The  pedler  was  called  up,  and  stated, 
that  the  youth  had  been  seized  the  night  before  the 
sailing  of  the  fleet,  as  he  was  taking  a  solitary  walk 
along  the  river  side ;  conveyed  on  board  the  ships ; 
transported  to  New- York;  tried  for  treasonable 
practices ;  condemned,  and  sentenced  to  these 
ignominious  punishments.  Such  indeed  was  the 
sad  story  of  Koningsmarke,  who  had  been  seized 
and  taken  to  New- York  in  manner  aforesaid, 
and  there  brought  to  trial  before  the  governor  and 
his  council.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  asserted  his 
innocence,  and  that  at  the  time  he  was  accused  of 
these  crimes  he  was  a  subject  of  Sweden,  and 
owed  no  allegiance  to  any  other  power,  much  less 
a  power  which  exercised  no  authority  in  New- 


176  KONINGSMARKE. 

Swedeland.  He  was  answered,  that  the  Swedes 
from  the  first  had  no  right  to  the  territory  they 
occupied,  which,  in  fact,  appertained  to  Great 
Britain  by  discovery.  Koningsmarke  was  therefore 
living  under  an  usurped  government,  and  could 
claim  no  immunity  on  the  score  of  not  owing  alle 
giance  to  a  power  which,  though  not  actually  in 
possession,  always  had  the  right.  The  council, 
consisting  of  the  governor,  Thomas  Delaval,  and 
Ralph  Whitfield,  on  these  grounds,  decreed  as 
follows : 

"  That  Koningsmarke,  commonly  called  the  Long 
Finne,  deserved  to  die  ;  yet,  in  regard  that  many 
concerned  with  him  in  these  practices  might  also 
be  involved  in  the  pra3munire,  if  the  rigour  of  the 
law  should  be  extended,  and  amongst  them  divers 
ignorant  and  simple  people,  it  was  thought  fit  to 
order,  that  the  Long  Finne  should  be  severely 
whipt,  and  stigmatized  with  the  letter  R,  with  an 
inscription  in  great  letters  on  his  breast,  that  he 
received  that  punishment  for  rebellion ;  and  after 
ward  to  be  secured  till  sent  to  Barbadoes,  or  some 
other  remote  plantation,  to  be  sold." 

When  Christina  heard  of  this  terrible  sentence, 
her  heart  failed  her,  and  she  sunk  insensible  into 
the  arms  of  her  father.  Every  species  of  bitter, 
indelible  disgrace  was  combined  in  this  punishment; 
and  who  is  there,  that  cherishes  a  friend,  or  adores 
a  lover,  but  would  rather  have  heard  that  he  was 
dead,  than  thus  scourged,  branded,  and  sold  1p 


KONINGSMARKE.  177 

slavery?  When  Christina  came  to  herself,  she 
desired  to  be  conducted  to  her  chamber  and  left 
alone.  After  remaining  there  an  hour  or  two,  she 
sent  for  her  father,  who  found  her  pale,  feeble,  and 
nearly  exhausted  with  the  misery  of  her  feelings. 
Yet  there  was  a  speaking  energy  in  her  light  blue 
eye,  that  indicated  she  was  labouring  with  some 
resolve  that  possessed  her  whole  soul. 

"  How  art  thou  now,  my  dear  daughter  ?"  said 
the  Heer. 

"Well — very  well,"  replied  Christina  ;  "but,  my 
father,  I  have  one  request  to  make  thee,  which,  as 
thou  valuest  my  happiness,  nay,  my  very  life,  I 
beseech  thee  to  grant  me.  Wilt  thou  V 

"  What  is  it,  my  dear  one  ?"  answered  the  Heer, 
with  affectionate  sympathy;  "it  must  be  impossible, 
if  I  refuse  it  to  thee.  What  is  it  ?" 

Christina  looked  wistfully  in  his  face,  and  replied 
— "  HE  saved  my  life  ;  he  bore  me  in  his  arms,  as 
a  mother  her  only  offspring  ;  he  watched  over  me 
in  the  wilderness ;  lie  risked  death  and  torture  in 
the  attempt  to  restore  me  to  thee  ;  and  shall  not  I 
do  something  to  requite  all  these  obligations  ?" 

"  All  that  can  be  done  to  rescue  him  from  this 
disgrace  and  misery  shall  be  done.  I  will  send, 
and  demand  him  as  a  subject  of  my  master." 

"  Alas  !"  replied  Christina,  "  when  I  wanted  his 
aid,  he  did  not  send ;  he  came  himself;  he  risked 
all  for  me,  and  shall  not  we  risk  something  for  him? 
Let  us  not  send,  but  go  to  him,  father.  Kindness 


178  KONINGSMARKE. 

should  never  come  at  second-hand.  Even  those 
who  cannot  ward  off  the  calamities  of  others,  may 
alleviate  them  by  sympathy." 

w  But  think,  my  love,  what  will  the  world  say 
of  thy  pilgrimage  ?  Will  they  not  taunt  thee  with 
the  reproach  of  following  a  degraded,  condemned 
criminal — a  lover,  whose  affection  is  thy  disgrace, 
and  whom  to  love  is  infamy  ?" 

"  Father,"  replied  Christina,  "  I  know  that  it  is 
for  the  honour  and  happiness  of  my  sex,  that  they 
should,  in  all  the  ordinary  circumstances  of  life, 
conform  to  the  strict  rules  of  female  decorum,  and 
pay  due  deference  to  the  opinions  of  the  world. 
But  I  also  know,  father,  that  there  are  times  and 
occasions,  when  love,  gratitude,  filial  duty,  parental 
affection,  attachment  to  our  country,  nay,  even  the 
desire  of  fame,  not  only  justify,  but  demand  a  de 
parture  from  common  rules,  and  the  sacrifice  of 
those  delicate  restraints,  which  otherwise  should 
never  be  disregarded.  To  save  a  husband,  I 
should  be  applauded  for  this  act,  even  though  he 
were  unworthy  my  affection.  Shall  I  not  do  like 
wise  for  one  to  whom  gratitude  at  least  has  bound 
me  for  ever  V 

**  But  think  of  the  toils  and  dangers  of  the  jour 
ney,  my  daughter." 

"  Thou  forgetest,  father,"  replied  Christina,  with 
a  languid  smile — "thou  forgetest  I  am  used  to 
traverse  the  wilderness.  The  errand  I  go  upon 


KONINGSMARKE.  179 

Xvill  make  me  heedless  of  the  way,  except  as  it 
may  delay  our  efforts  till  they  shall  be  too  late." 

"  Ah  !"  replied  the  old  man,  with  a  melancholy, 
doubting  shake  of  the  head,  "  come  when  they 
will,  I  fear  all  our  endeavours  will  be  too  late,  or, 
at  least,  in  vain.  What  hast  thou  to  offer,  to  tempt 
the  statesman  to  forego  an  act  of  policy  like  this?" 

"  My  tears,  my  thanks,  my  prayers,  my  ever 
lasting  gratitude.  Surely,  father,  the  bosoms  of 
men  are  not  turned  into  stone  by  the  exercise  of 
power,  nor  can  they  be  insensible  to  the  delight 
of  making  the  heart  leap  in  the  bosom  of  a  lonely 
stranger." 

"  Well,  well — I  will  no  longer  oppose  thee,  my 
girl.  We  will  go,  in  God's  name ;  and,  if  it  be 
necessary,  I,  even  I,  will  humble  myself  before 
Richard  Lovelace,  rather  than  see  thee  mourn 
thyself  into  a  shadow,  and  die  of  a  broken  heart. 
I  have  lost  thee  once,  and  know  the  agonies  of  such 
a  bereavement.  We  will  go,  and  speedily." 

Christina  threw'herself  into  the  arms  of  her  pa 
rent,  and  exclaimed  amid  her  tears — "  Oh  !  that  I 
may  live  to  repay  my  father  for  all  his  kindness." 

When  it  was  known  that  the  Heer  and  his  daugh 
ter  were  going  to  undertake  this  long  journey, 
part  of  which  was  through  a  forest,  as  yet  trodden 
only  by  wild  beasts  and  red  men,  with  now  and 
then  a  wandering  being  like  Lowright,  half  a  dozen 
of  the  villagers  came  in  a  body,  and  offered  their 


180  KONINGSMARKE. 

services  to  escort  their  ancient  chief  and  his  daugh 
ter.  "  We  will  paddle  a  canoe  for  you  to  the  falls, 
and  we  will  carry  you  in  a  litter  of  boughs,  when 
the  way  is  wet  and  deep,  or  you  become  tired." 
The  Heer  was  affected  by  their  good-will,  and, 
shaking  the  hand  of  each,  accepted  their  offers, 
with  hearty  thanks.  Even  in  the  depression  of  his 
feelings,  and  amid  the  downfall  of  his  power,  the 
heart  of  the  Heer  swelled  with  honest  pride,  to 
find  that,  though  the  means  of  bestowing  benefits 
on  his  neighbours  had  passed  away,  they  still 
remembered  his  kindness  in  the  days  of  his  pros 
perity.  So  easy,  indeed,  is  it  for  rulers  to  make 
themselves  beloved  by  the  people,  that  whenever 
we  hear  the  cries  of  the  multitude  ascending  against 
kings  and  their  ministers,  and  see  their  arms  raised 
in  opposition  to  their  will,  we  are  certain  that  pride, 
arrogance,  misgovernment,  and  oppression,  are  at 
the  bottom  of  this  discontent. 


KONINGSMARKE.  181 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"Not  all  the  roses  grafted  on  her  cheeks, 
Not  all  the  graces  dancing  in  her  eyes, 
Not  all  the  music  set  upon  her  tongue, 
Nor  all  the  lilies  that  lie  on  her  breast 
In  dazzling  whiteness,  are  of  half  the  worth 
Of  that  true  faith,  which  is  a  woman's  crown." 

IN  two  days  all  was  ready;  and  one  calm  morn 
ing,  in  the  merry  month  of  June,  our  little  party 
embarked  on  the  flood  tide  that  set  briskly  up  the 
river,  in  their  light  canoe.  A  gentle  southern 
breeze  rippled  the  surface  of  the  waters,  and  cooled 
the  summer  air  into  a  balmy  freshness,  exquisitely 
grateful  to  the  senses.  First,  they  passed  Coaqua- 
nock,  then  a  little  thriving  village,  but  since  become 
a  noble  city,  honoured  in  its  illustrious  founder,  and 
thrice  honoured  in  the  residence  of  a  sage  whose 
precepts  enlightened,  whose  example  adorned  a 
subsequent  age.  "Light  skimmed  the  pine  canoe 
along  the  low  banks,  fringed  with  tufts  of  water- 
willows,  that  bent  down  and  kissed  the  waves,  as 
they  approached  the  little  settlements  of  Burlington 
and  Bristol,  where  a  few  clear  fields  around  a 
cluster  of  rustic  buildings,  announced  the  com 
mencement  of  that  great  change  in  the  aspect  of 
the  country,  and  the  destinies  of  its  ancient  inhabi 
tants,  which  is  rapidly  pervading  the  new  world, 

VOL.  II R 


182  KONINGSMARKE. 

and  will  probably  not  stop,  until  it  has  passed  from 
the  Atlantic  of  the  east  to  the  shores  of  the  ocean 
of  the  west,  with  an  impulse  unabating  and  irre 
sistible. 

The  falls,  where  Trenton  now  stands,  was  the 
last  settlement  of  white  men  on  the  Upper  Dela 
ware.  From  thence  was  one  wide  extended  forest, 
through  which  roamed  the  Tirans,  the  Tiascons, 
the  Raritans,and  a  hundred  other  wandering  tribes, 
long  since  extinct,  or  represented  by  a  few  de 
generate  beings,  who  seem  only  to  live  for  the 
purpose  of  proving  that  the  red  man  was  born  for 
the  shade,  the  white  man  for  the  sunshine.  All  these 
were  now  on  good  terms  with  their  new  neigh 
bours  from  Europe,  and  our  little  party  journeyed, 
unmolested,  from  the  falls,  through  the  forest, 
along  where  the  classic  fanes  of  Princeton  now 
attract  the  youth  of  our  country  from  all  quarters  ; 
where  Kingston,  and  Brunswick,  and  Woodbridge, 
and  Rahway,  now  swarm  with  a  little  busy  fry,  but 
where  at  that  time  no  trace  of  cultivation  was  to 
be  seen,  till  they  came  into  the  vicinity  of  Eliza- 
bethtown,  then  just  settled.  Christina  and  the  good 
Heer,  when  fatigued  with  walking,  or  when  the  way 
was  more  than  commonly  rough,  or  obstructed, 
were  carried  by  their  faithful  escort  on  a  litter  of 
boughs ;  and  when  they  came  to  a  stream  that 
was  not  fordable,  they  launched  their  light  canoe, 
and  paddled  to  the  other  side. 


KONINGSMARKE.  183 

At  what  is  called  Elizabethtown  Point,  where 
they  were  sorely  annoyed  by  moschetoes,  our  little 
party  embarked  on  the  tide  that  carried  them 
rapidly  through  the  Kills.  Neither  the  waters 
nor  the  land  on  either  side  presented  the  gay 
and  moving  scene  that  they  do  now.  No  oyster- 
boats  plied  their  busy  rakes ;  no  fleet  of  painted 
shallops  and  pettiaugers,  such  as  are  now  every 
moment  seen  gliding  past  each  other  like  the 
winds  ;  no  steam-boats  unfurled  their  smoky  pen 
nants  to  the  breeze  ;  and  the  only  animated  beings 
besides  themselves,  were  the  gulls  that  skimmed 
the  surface  of  the  waters,  and  the  fish  that  sported 
beneath.  Where  the  little  villages,  the  whitening 
spires,  and  thickly-strewed  farm-houses,  now  ani 
mate  the  landscape  on  either  side,  was  nothing  but 
lofty  trees,  on  the  dead  branches  of  which  was 
here  and  there  seen  the  fish-hawk,  watching  to 
pounce  upon  his  finny  prey,  and  the  eagle  waiting 
his  opportunity  to  make  him  resign  it.  The  mo 
ment  the  hawk  hacl  seized  his  prize,  and  rose  into 
the  air,  the  lordly  eagle  flew  forth  and  pursued 
him  till  he  let  it  drop,  when  darting  with  incon* 
ceivable  velocity,  the  regal  robber  seized  it  ere  it 
reached  the  waters. 

So  beautiful  a  scene  might  have  charmed  a 
heart  that  dwelt  not  upon  deep  objects  of  interest, 
that  swallowed  up  all  sympathy  with  nature  and 
her  enchanting  pageantry.  But  the  attention  of 


184  KONINGSMARKE. 

the  good  Heer  and  his  daughter  was  concentrated 
on  one  idea,  and  they  remained  unmoved  by  the 
fair  succession  of  objects  that  passed  rapidly  before 
their  eyes,  until  they  opened  upon  the  delightful 
bay,  and  city,  which  seemed  rising  from  its  capa 
cious  bosom.  For  a  moment,  each  was  animated 
by  a  spark  of  wonder  and  admiration ;  but  the 
thought  that  they  were  now  approaching  the  place 
and  the  hour,  which  was  to  seal  their  fate  as  happy 
or  miserable  beings  in  this  world,  speedily  assumed 
its  ascendency,  and  shut  out  all  other  thoughts  and 
feelings.  Arriving  at  New- York,  our  little  party 
landed,  like  pilgrims  in  some  desert  country,  or,  at 
least,  where  they  felt  as  lonely  as  in  the  midst  of 
the  desert.  Strangers  to  the  place,  and  every  soul 
within  it,  they  knew  not  whither  to  seek  a  shelter, 
but  wandered  about  the  little  crooked  streets  and 
lanes,  as  objects  of  wonder,  rather  than  sympathy, 
to  the  busy  inhabitants. 

Passing,  at  length,  by  the  door  of  a  comfortable 
looking  mansion,  the  ears  of  the  good  Heer  and 
his  daughter  were  saluted  with  some  lines  of  an 
old  ballad,  which  was  familiar  to  their  recollection, 
chanted  by  a  voice  that  seemed  like  one  they  had 
heard  somewhere  before. 

"  Bless  me  !"  exclaimed  the  Heer,  involuntarily ; 
"  if  it  was  not  quite  impossible,  I  should  think  I 
heard  our  old  neighbour,  Wolvert  Spangler,  sing 
ing  one  of  his  ditties." 


KONINGSMARKE.  185 

The  exclamation  was  overheard  by  the  singer, 
who  came  straight  to  the  door,  exhibiting  the  little, 
chubby,  round,  jolly  face  of  the  identical  ballad- 
singing  cobbler  of  Elsingburgh.  The  moment 
honest  Wolvert  saw  the  old  man  and  his  daughter, 
he  recognised  them,  and  ran  and  took  the  hands 
of  the  Heer,  and  shook  them  cordially,  with  tears 
of  joyful  welcome. 

"  My  old  master,"  cried  he,  at  last,  "  it  makes 
my  heart  glad  to  see  thee.  And  thou,  too,  my 
little  mistress,  wilt  let  a  humble  old  acquaintance, 
who  hath  often  taken  measure  of  thy  little  foot, 
welcome  thee  to  this  good  city." 

"  In  good  sooth,  Wolvert,"  quoth  the  Heer,  "thy 
welcome  is  well  timed,  and  grateful  to  our  hearts- 
as  our  necessities.  We  are  here  as  strangers, 
without  house,  or  home,  or  friends — " 

"  Sayest  thou  so,"  interrupted  Wolvert, "  I  am  glad 
of  it — I  am  heartily  glad  of  it,  for  then  thou  wilt, 
perhaps,  accept  of  me  as  a  friend,  and  my  house 
as  thy  home.  Never  wilt  thou  enter  a  threshold, 
where  thou  shalt  be  more  welcome,  or  meet  with 
hearts  more  glad  to  administer  to  thy  happiness. 
Come  forth,  dame,"  cried  he ;  "  thou  hast  not  forgot 
the  kindness  of  my  benefactress,  to  me  and  mine, 
when  I  had  neither  house  nor  home.  I  have  often; 
told  thee  of  it." 

At  this  call  there  came  forth,  with  active  alacrity, 
a  comely  dame,  neatly  and  comfortably  apparelled* 

VOL.  II R  2 


186  KONINGSMARKE. 

and,  with  courtesy  and  smiling  look,  besought  them 
to  enter  and  make  themselves  at  home.  "  We 
will  accept  thine  offers  frankly,"  said  the  Heer, 
"  not  only  because  we  know  not  whither  else  to 
go,  but  most  especially,  that  thy  welcome  seems 
to  be  truly  and  sincerely  tendered." 

"  Else  may  one  of  the  heaviest  of  Dominie 
KanttwelPs  judgments  befall  me  and  mine — my 
house  and  all  within  it,"  quoth  honest  Wolvert,  as 
he  showed  the  father  and  daughter  into  his  com 
fortable  little  parlour,  the  floor  of  which  was  sprin 
kled  with  sand  from  the  seashore,  as  white  as  the 
driven  snow.  After  partaking  of  some  refresh 
ments,  which  were  pressed  upon  them  with  genuine, 
honest  earnestness,  the  Heer,  whose  heart  was 
scarce  ever  so  shut  up  but  that  good  cheer  warmed 
and  expanded  it  into  something  like  honest  jollity, 
addressed  his  host  as  follows  : 

"  Neighbour  Spangler,  I  am  glad  for  thy  sake  as 
well  as  my  own,  that  thou  seemest  so  comfortably 
settled,  and  seemingly,  therewithal,  so  well  to  do 
in  the  world.  Thou  hast  been  industrious  and 
saving,  I  dare  swear  for  thee,  hey  ?  for,  if  I  recol 
lect  right,  when  thou  badest  farewell  to  Elsing- 
burgh,  in  sober  sadness,  thou  didst  not  over  and 
above  abound  in  the  good  things  of  this  life,  hey  ? 
Tell  us  thy  peregrinations." 

"  That  is  soon  done,"  replied  the  other  ;  "  after 
leaving  Elsingburgh,  I  found  my  way  to  the  Hoar- 


KONINGSMARKE.  187 

kill,  where  I  had  a  brother,  a  skipper,  who  owned 
a  small  vessel,  with  which  he  plied  along  the  coast, 
to  and  again.  I  got  a  passage  with  him  to  New- 
York,  where  I  went  forth  into  the  streets  to  seek 
my  fortune.  Providence,  I  humbly  hope,  in  spite 
of  the  judgments  of  Dominie  Kanttwell,  conducted 
me  to  the  owner  of  this  house,  then  a  worthy  and 
thriving  shoemaker,  who,  luckily,  wanted  a  jour 
neyman,  and  took  me  on  the  recommendation  of 
my  face.  This  was  not  the  only  good  turn  my 
face  did  me,  for,  in  about  a  year,  my  master  died, 
leaving  his  widow  all  his  possessions.  The  comely 
dame  was  fond  of  music,  and  in  good  time  my 
ballads  made  an  impression  on  her  heart.  To  cut 
short  a  long  story,  and  a  tolerably  long  courtship, 
I  married  an  excellent  wife,  who  made  me  quite 
independent  of  the  world,  and  to  whom,  I  trust,  I 
have  been,  and  always  shall  be,  a  good  husband. 
Not  only  this,  Heer,  but  Governor  Lovelace  has 
lately  made  me  one  of  his  five  aldermen,  and  con 
sults  me  on  all  great  occasions  of  state,  because, 
as  he  is  pleased  to  observe,  I  always  agree  with, 
him  in  opinion,  which  is  a  proof  of  my  being  a 
person  of  sound  discretion.  So  you  see,  my  worthy 
old  master,  my  old  friends,  the  ballads,  have  been 
the  making  of  me,  after  all." 

The  Heer  pondered  a  few  moments  on  this  piece 
of  biography,  and  then  addressed  himself  to  Al 
derman  Spangler,  in  an  anxious  tone,  and  with  a 


188  KONINGSMARKE. 

hesitating  manner,  as  if  afraid  of  hearing  a  reply 
to  his  questions. 

"  As  thou  art  in  the  confidence  of  the  governor, 
thou  canst,  perhaps,  tell  me  something  concerning 
the  fate  of  a  youth,  who  is  dear  to  us,  at  least,  to 
me,  and  whom  thou  mayest  remember  at  Elsing- 
burgh,  as  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Long  Finne.  We  have  learned  that  he  is  here, 
and  in  jeopardy  of  life  and  liberty." 

"  You  have  learned  the  truth,"  replied  the  other. 
"  Poor  lad  !  I  have  made  every  effort  to  save  him 
from  punishment,  for  what,  I  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  he  is  not  guilty  of.  I  have  even  opposed 
the  will  of  the  governor,  until  he  begins  to  waiver 
in  his  opinion  of  my  great  discretion.  But  his 
excellency  is  exceedingly  prejudiced  against  Kon- 
ingsmarke,  because  his  behaviour,  during  his  ex 
amination  before  the  council,  was  rather  bold,  and 
according  to  the  governor's  acceptation,  savoured 
of  a  crop-ear  and  Presbyterian  parliament  rebel." 

"  In  what  predicament  stands  he  now  ?"  asked 
the  Heer. 

"  He  stands,"  replied  the  other,  "  condemned  to 
be  publicly  whipt,  and  afterward  sold  as  a  slave 
to  Barbadoes.  The  first  part  of  the  sentence  is  to 
be  inflicted  to-morrow,  by  twelve  o'clock." 

"  Thou  hadst  better  retire  with  our  kind  hostess, 
my  daughter,"  said  the  Heer,  addressing  Christina, 
whose  emotions  almost  shook  her  frame  to  dissolu- 


KONINGSMARKE.  189 

tion,  as  the  thought  crossed  her  mind  that  it  was 
now  too  late  to  save  poor  Koningsmarke,  at  least 
from  disgrace.  But  she  resisted  the  motion  to 
retire. 

"  I  came  to  see  all,  to  hear  all,  and  to  bear  all, 
if  Providence  will  vouchsafe  to  give  me  a  few  days 
strength.  The  time  presses,  and  what  is  done 
must  be  done  speedily,  or  never.  Good  Wolvert, 
canst  thou  procure  me  the  means  of  seeing  Richard 
Lovelace  this  night  ?" 

"  I  fear  not,  maiden,"  replied  Wolvert ;  "  he  is 
now  on  Staten  Island,  on  a  shooting  party  to  kill 
bears,  and  will  not  return  till  late,  if  at  all.  But 
he  will  of  necessity  be  here  in  the  morning." 

"  Wilt  thou  see  him  in  the  morning  before  the 
hour  arrives,  and  gain  me  admission  to  his  pre 
sence  ?" 

"  If  God  will  so  help  me  as  to  succeed,  it  shall 
be  so,"  replied  he. 

"Can  I  not  see — him?"  said  Christina,  with 
anxious  and  delicate  hesitation. 

"  What,  the  youth  ?  No,  not  to-night.  He  is 
confined  in  the  fort,  and  none  can  see  him,  without 
an  order  from  the  governor.  But  to-morrow — be 
of  good  heart,  my  poor  maiden — to-morrow  we 
will  essay  what  we  can  do.  Richard  Lovelace  is 
a  passionate  man,  but  he  is  not  cruel.  Let  us  put 
our  trust  in  Heaven." 

"  I  do,"  replied  Christina,  "  but  my  fears  over- 


190  KONINGSMARKE. 

power  my  trust.  Would,  Oh  !  would  to  Heaven 
this  night  were  past,  for  I  fear  my  mind  will  fail 
me,  ere  the  hour  approaches  when  I  shall  most  need 
its  support,  and  that  of  my  Maker.  Father,  I  would 
wish  to  retire,  and  prepare  for  the  morrow." 

Christina  was  conducted  to  a  chamber  by  the 
good  dame,  who  discreetly  left  her  alone,  after 
seeing  that  nothing  was  wanting  to  her  comforts. 


KONINGSMARKE.  191 


CHAPTER  V. 

Unlock  these  iron  gates,  I  say  ! 

And  give  me  up  your  prisoner ; 

'Fore  Heaven,  ere  long  we'll  hamper  him 

With  bonds,  to  which  your  iron  chains 

Are  as  Sampson's  burnt  flax. 

THE  fatigues  of  a  long  and  tedious  journey  could 
not  conquer  the  wakeful  agony  of  poor  Christina, 
who  paced  her  room  backwards  and  forwards,  till 
the  crowing  of  the  cock  announced  the  approach 
of  the  morning,  which  was  to  decide  upon  her 
happiness  or  misery.  The  rising  sun  found  her 
pale  and  worn  with  anxiety  and  suffering;  yet 
there  was  a  firmness,  a  composure  in  her  voice  and 
manner,  which  indicated  a  mind  wound  up  to  meet 
the  events  of  the  day,  let  them  take  what  turn  they 
might. 

Soon  as  the  hour  af  which  the  governor  usually 
finished  his  breakfast  arrived,  the  kind-hearted 
Spangler  went  forth  to  solicit  an  immediate  inter 
view  for  the  Heer  and  his  daughter.  His  excellency 
happened  to  be  in  high  good  humour  that  morning, 
having  just  heard  some  news  from  England,  which 
gave  him  particular  satisfaction,  but  which,  having 
no  especial  reference  to  our  history,  we  shall  pass 
over  just  now. 

"  What  tell  ye  me,  alderman  !  the  old  governor 


192  KONINGSMARKE. 

of  Elsingburgh  come  hither  with  his  daughter,  to 
solicit  the  pardon  of  him  they  call  the  Long  Finne? 
Body  o'me  !  is  she  young  and  handsome — hey?" 

"  She  is  pale  and  sad,"  replied  Spangler ;  "  but 
the  damsel  has  fair  blue  eyes,  is  of  exceeding 
comely  features,  and  her  shape  is  without  fault." 

"  What !  no  Dutch  dowdy,  shaped  like  a  tub — 
hey  ?  Well,  I  shall  put  on  my  regimentals,  and  you 
shall  go  and  bring  the  old  Heer  and  his  daughter 
hither." 

The  alderman  departed  on  his  errand,  and  the 
governor  proceeded  to  dress  for  his  audience  of  the 
fair  young  Swede,  whose  limbs  trembled  so  that 
she  could  scarcely  support  herself,  as  they  came 
into  the  presence  of  him  who  derived  a  present 
consequence  beyond  all  other  human  agents,  from 
having  in  his  dispensation  the  fate  of  Koningsmarke. 
The  old  cavalier  was  struck  with  the  beauty  of  our 
heroine,  and  with  mingled  gallantry  and  compas 
sion,  conducted  her  to  a  chair.  After  a  moment' s 
embarrassment,  Christina  said  to  the  Heer : — 

"  Father,  the  hour  draws  nigh,  each  moment  is 
precious." 

The  Heer  then,  in  a  firm,  manly,  and  feeling 
manner,  required  the  pardon  and  enfranchisement 
of  the  young  Swede  called  Koningsmarke,  who  in 
all  that  he  had  done,  had  acted  under  his  orders,  as 
lawful  and  unquestionable  representative  of  the 
King  of  Sweden,  then  possessed  of,  and  exercising 
jurisdiction  over  the  territory  of  Elsingburgh. 


KONINGSMARKE.  193 

"  But  he  invited  the  savages  to  take  arms,  and 
thereby  endangered  the  lives  of  many  of  the  sub 
jects  of  my  master.  This  was  against  the  laws 
of  God  and  man,  and  he  deserves  the  severest 
punishment." 

"  The  laws  divine  and  human,"  replied  the  Heer, 
"  authorize  the  means  of  self-defence  at  least ;  and 
the  practice  of  thy  nation,  as  well  as  of  all  the  first 
adventurers  in  this  new  world,  hath  been  to  enlist 
the  savages  in  their  wars  with  each  other.  He 
did  not  invite  the  red  men  to  invade  thy  town,  or 
murder  thy  people,  but  to  assist  in  defending  our 
lives  and  property.  For  this  he  had  my  commis 
sion,  and  if  any  one  is  to  blame  in  this  business, 
here  I  render  myself  thy  prisoner,  to  take  the 
consequences  of  an  act  which  was  not  his,  but 
mine." 

"  But,"  said  Lovelace,  "  it  is  in  proof  from  the 
testimony  of  thy  own  people,  that  he  continued  his 
practices  among  the  savages,  after  the  surrender 
of  Elsingburgh,  and-  that  he  was,  consequently, 
guilty  of  conspiracy  and  treason  against  the  king's 
majesty  of  England." 

"  That  is  impossible,"  replied  the  Heer, "  because 
he  was  with  me  during  the  whole  period  of  the 
negotiation,  and  also  that  which  followed  the  sur 
render  of  my  power,  until  the  evening  preceding 
the  departure  of  the  fleet,  when,  as  I  understand, 
he  was  kidnapped  and  forcibly  carried  away  by 
the  agents  of  Sir  Robert  Carre.  Who  among  my 

VOL.  II — S 


194  KONINGSMARKE. 

people  gave  thee  such  false  and  wicked  informa 
tion?" 

Governor  Lovelace  opened  a  drawer,  and  pro 
duced  a  letter  from  Othman  Pfegel,  conveying  these 
charges  against  the  Long  Finne,  and  referring  to 
Dominie  Kanttwell  for  a  full  corroboration. 

"  The  galgen  scliweiikel?  exclaimed  the  Heer  ; 
"  the  Long  Finne  shall  cut  off  his  ears,  and  a  slice 
of  the  Dominie's  tongue,  if  he  ever  lives  to  get 
back  to  Elsingburgh ;  and  if  he  does  not,  I  will 
live  a  little  while  longer,  if  it  be  only  to  do  that 
good  turn  to  a  youth  whom  I  loved  as  my  own 
son." 

"But  what  proof  hast  thou  of  this?"  rejoined 
Lovelace. 

"  The  word,  or,  if  thou  pleasest,  the  oath  of  a 
man  of  honour,"  quoth  the  Heer. 

"  And  mine  also,"  faltered  the  weeping  Christina. 
"  The  young  man  was  never  absent  from  me,  all 
this  while,  long  enough  to  hold  any  communication 
with  the  savages." 

"  Indeed  !"  quoth  Lovelace—"  is  the  young  man 
nearly  related  to  thee  ?" 

"  No  ;  not  a  drop  of  blood  that  runs  in  his  veins 
is  of  kindred  with  mine.  I  owe  him  nothing  on 
that  score,  but  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  life,  and 
more  than  life.  Why,"  continued  Christina  to  her 
self,  after  a  struggle  and  a  pause,  "  why  should  I 
shrink,  from  what  my  heart  dictates,  and  gratitude 
makes  it  a  crime  to  omit?  The  moments  are 


KONINGSMARKE.  195 

numbered — the  clock  strikes  eleven — one  hour,  and 
but  one  hour  more,  to  wrestle  with  fate." 

Rising  from  her  seat,  Christina  tottered  towards 
Governor  Lovelace,  and  sunk  at  his  feet. 

"  Oh,  sir  !  exclaimed  the  maiden,  with  clasped 
hands,  "  if  thou  canst  not  yield  to  justice,  which 
demands  the  release  of  the  innocent,  yield  thou  to 
the  prayers  of  mercy,  which  entreats  his  pardon  at 
thy  hands.  At  other  times  I  might  veil  my  maiden 
modesty,  and  shrink  from  the  avowal,  but  now,  I 
proclaim  to  thee  that  this  youth  is  my  affianced 
husband,  that  both  gratitude  and  love  have  bound 
me  to  him  for  ever,  and  that  if  he  is  disgraced  by 
public  stripes,  and  sold  to  captivity  among  the  slaves 
of  the  Indies,  not  he  alone,  but  I,  shall  feel  the 
blows  and  the  chains.  My  father,  too,  will  become 
ere  long  a  childless  old  man,  bearing  on  his  shoulders 
a  burden  of  misery,  greater  than  even  his  weight 
of  years.  Think  of  all  this,  and  feel  as  I  and  rny 
father  would  feel  for  thee,  wert  thou  and  thy 
daughter  thus  pleading  before  us  for  life  and  death, 
Thou  hast  a  daughter,  perhaps?" 

The  gallant,  hearty  old  cavalier  wiped  his  eyes, 
and,  hastily  approaching  the  fire-place,  rung  the 
bell.  A  servant  entered  immediately. 

"  My  carriage,  instantly ;  do  you  hear  ?  in-- 
stantly."  He  then  sat  down  and  employed  hin> 
self  in  writing,  till  the  servant  announced  the  car-r 
nage  was  ready,  when  he  arose,  and,  approaching 
Christina,  gave  her  the  billet  he  had  just  finished. 


196  KONINGSMARKE. 

"  Thou  shalt  bear  the  first  tidings  thyself,  my 
daughter,"  said  Lovelace,  "  for  so  I  feel  for  thee. 
Enter  the  carriage  with  thy  father,  drive  to  the 
prison,  deliver  this  letter  to  the  keeper — and  may 
those  who  would  shrink  from  such  exertions  as 
thine  never  taste  the  delight  which  is  now  preparing 
for  thee.  Go  and  bring  the  young  man  with  thee 
hither.  No  thanks — there  is  not  a  moment  to  be 
lost." 

He  then  handed  Christina  to  the  carriage,  placed 
her  in  it  with  her  father,  and  bade  the  coachman 
drive  to  the  prison  with  all  possible  speed.  The 
clock  struck  twelve  a  few  minutes  after  they  left  the 
governor's  mansion,  and  Christina,  as  she  counted 
the  last  stroke,  exclaimed,  in  an  agony  of  feeling — 

"  We  shall  come  too  late.  Oh  !  I  know  him  so 
well !  I  know  that  if  he  is  once  made  a  public 
spectacle — if  the  lash  but  once  outrages  the  sacred 
dignity  of  manhood — it  will  be  as  if  he  were  lost 
to  us  for  ever;  he  will  die,  or,  at  least,  he  will  never 
see  us  more." 

A  few  minutes  brought  them  to  the  fort,  which 
served  as  the  prison  for  state  criminals,  where  they 
perceived  a  bustle  and  confusion  in  the  hall  as  they 
approached.  As  they  came  nearer,  they  could  see 
a  tall  figure  struggling  with  one  or  two  soldiers, 
who  seemed  striving  to  strip  him  of  his  upper  gar 
ments  ;  a  measure  which  he  appeared  to  resist  with 
all  his  might. 

"  Pooh  !  pooh !"  exclaimed  one  of  the  soldiers, 


KONINGSMARKE.  197 

in  a  rough  voice ;  "  there  is  no  use  in  resisting,  and 
you  may  as  well  take  it  quietly." 

"  Is  there  no  hope  they  will  shoot  me  ?"  replied 
the  struggling  prisoner.  "  Must  I  be  whipt  like  a 
slave  ?" 

"  As  sure  as  your  name  is  Long  Finne,"  replied 
the  other.  "  Here  comes  the  tickler,  with  his  cat- 
o'-nine-tails ;  if  you  had  as  many  lives  as  a  cat,  he'd 
scourge  them  all  out  of  you,  I'll  swear  for  it." 

"  Then  God  forgive  me  !"  exclaimed  the  youth, 
as  he  snatched  the  bayonet  which  the  soldier  carried 
stuck  in  his  belt,  and  directed  it  to  his  own  bosom. 
At  that  instant,  and  just  as  the  point  became  died  in 
blood,  a  voice  that  went  to  his  soul,  exclaimed : — 
"  Hold  !  in  the  name  of  Heaven !  thy  honour  is 
saved  !"  The  next  moment  Christina  sunk  into 
his  arms,  and  her  pure  white  bosom  was  stained 
with  the  blood  of  him  who  pressed  her  to  his  heart. 
When  the  blue-eyed  maid  saw  the  blood,  she  started 
away  in  horrible  despair.  "  Am  I  then  too  late  ? 
Hast  thou  done  the  deed  ?  O  !  righteous  powers, 
one  moment  had  saved  him  and  me,  and  that  mo 
ment  was  wasted  !" 

Koningsmarke  solemnly  assured  her  that  he  was 
not  hurt,  and  that  his  arm  was  arrested  by  her 
voice,  just  in  time  to  save  his  life. 

"  And  such  is  thy  love  for  me  !"  said  Christina ; 
"  thou  couldst  not  endure  a  little  for  one  who  would 
suffer  all  for  thee." 

"Any  thing  but  stripes  and  brands.     Couldst 

VOL.  II S  2 


198  KONINGSMARKE. 

thou,  dear  Christina,  bear  to  link  thy  fate  with  that 
of  a  man  who  bore  on  his  back  the  scars  of  dis 
grace,  and  on  his  brow  the  brand  of  indelible  in 
famy  r 

"  Yes  !"  replied  she,  raising  her  eyes  to  Heaven, 
as  an  appeal  to  the  ordeal  of  truth :  "  Yes !  but 
neither  thou  nor  I  could  bear  it  long." 

"  Come,  come,"  cried  the  Heer,  who  now  for  the 
first  time  found  the  use  of  his  eyes  and  tongue — 
"  come,  come,  you  young  fools,  don't  stand  here 
talking  and  crying  before  these  rough  and  tough- 
hearted  knaves,  who,  I  see,  don't  know  whether  to 
laugh  or  cry.  Mr.  Jailer,  is  the  order  sufficient  ?" 

"  Perfectly  so,  sir  : — the  young  gentleman  is  free 
to  depart  when  he  pleases." 

"  Well,  then,  let  us  depart,  in  God's  name,"  quoth 
the  Heer  to  his  young  companions.  "  And  here  is 
something  to  make  merry  with,  boys,"  throwing  a 
handful  of  rix-dollars  among  the  men  of  bolts  and 
bars,  who  greeted  him  with  cheers,  as  he  departed, 
and  took  coach  for  the  governor's. 


KONINGSMARKE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

When  heroine  and  hero  haply  wed, 
It  is  all  one  to  us  as  they  were  dead ; 
Since  in  all  ages  it  hath  been  the  way, 
That  funeral  or  marriage  ends  the  play. 

GOVERNOR  LOVELACE  received  the  party  with 
great  cordiality,  and  felt  his  heart  warm  with  honest 
benevolence,  as  the  father  and  daughter  poured  out 
their  gratitude  in  thanks. 

"  Give  me  thy  hand,  young  man,"  said  he  to  the 
Long  Finne.  "  The  assurances  of  this  worthy  old 
gentleman,  backed  by  the  entreaties  of  this  fair 
lady,  have  convinced  me  thou  hast  been  basely 
slandered.  Give  me  thy  hand  ;  I  hope  there  is  no 
ill  blood  between  us." 

"  None,"  replied  Koningsmarke  ;  "  the  wisest 
men  may  be  deceived  ;  it  is  only  the  virtuous  and 
just  that  will  acknowledge  and  repair  their  errors." 

"  And  I,"  rejoined  his  excellency,  "  hereby  cove 
nant  to  forgive  myself,  and  all  my  enemies,  on  one 
condition ;  which  is  no  other  than  that,  as  I  perceive 
with  sufficient  clearness  this  young  couple  contem 
plate  joining  their  fates  together  ere  long,  thou, 
Governor  Piper,  wilt  lay  thy  commands  upon  them 
to  honour  my  house  with  the  ceremony,  and  there 
withal  charge  them,  upon  pain  of  forfeiting  thy 
blessing,  to  permit  me  the  pleasure  of  giving  away 


200  KONINGSMARKE. 

a  lady,  whom,  if  I  were  a  young  man,  as  I  once 
was,  I  would  dispute  the  possession  of  with  Guy  of 
Warwick  himself.  What  sayest  thou,  governor?" 

"  I  say,"  replied  the  Heer,  "  yea,  I  swear,  that 
it  must,  and  shall  be  so,  or  I  will  withdraw  my 
consent  in  favour  of  the  backbiter  Othman  Pfegel, 
whom  I  do  contemplate  to  beat  lustily  on  my  return. 
Art  thou  content,  my  daughter  ?" 

"  Dear  father,  allow  me  till  to-morrow  to  decide." 

"  Very  well,  but,  der  teufel !  what  has  got  into 
thee,  girl  ?  When  any  thing  turns  up  to  separate 
thee  from  the  Long  Finne,  thou  art  half  mad  ;  and 
when  I  am  willing  to  unite  you  together,  thou  art 
more  than  half  a  fool,  I  think,  and  don't  altogether 
know  thy  own  mind.  But  harkye,  girl,  be  ready 
to-morrow  morning  either  to  consent  to  marry  the 
youth,  or  never  to  see  him  more." 

"  I  agree  to  the  alternative,  father,"  replied 
Christina,  bending  her  head  down  upon  her  bosom. 

Governor  Lovelace  now  drew  the  Heer  aside, 
and  whispered  him,  "  come  with  me,  and  let  us 
leave  them  together — I  dare  swear  the  matter 
will  be  settled  to  our  satisfaction  ;"  and  thereupon 
the  two  old  gentlemen  left  the  room  together. 
Koningsmarke,  then  taking  the  hand  of  Christina, 
said — 

"  Christina,  thou  hast  this  day  made  me  thy 
debtor  in  a  sum  of  gratitude,  which  I  can  never 
repay.  Dare  I  ask  thee  to  add  to  it  by  comply 
ing  with  the  wishes  of  thy  father  ?  I  speak  not  of 


KONINGSMARKE.  201 

my  own  happiness,  but  of  his.  He  will  rejoice  in 
our  union." 

"  Believe  it  not — hope  it  not,"  replied  Christina. 
"  Oh,  how  I  rejoice  in  the  events  of  this  day,  which 
have  enabled  me  to  repay,  at  least,  some  of  my 
obligations  to  thee  !  Thou  didst  once  save  my  life 
and  honour,  and  I  have  helped  to  redeem  thine. 
Thus  far  are  we  even,  as  to  the  past ;  as  to  the 
future,  believe  not  that  I  can  ever  join  my  fate  in- 
dissolubly  to  that  of  a  robber — at  least,  to  one  who 
has  been  an  associate  of  robbers.  The  debt  of 
gratitude  repaid,  I  can  yield  nothing  to  affection." 

"  A  robber  !"  exclaimed  the  Long  Finne,  starting 
away  from  her  with  dismay  and  astonishment — "  a 
robber !" 

"  Yes  !  I  have  said  it ;  for  the  truth  compelled 
me,  at  last,  to  utter  the  word,  which  I  have  carried 
in  my  heart  as  a  poisoned  dagger,  from  the  very 
moment,  when,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  I  became 
thy  debtor  in  an  eternal  weight  of  gratitude,  and 
discovered  thou  weft  unworthy  of  my  love.  Nay, 
deny  it  not ;  thy  whole  behaviour,  from  first  to  last, 
hath  acquiesced  in  the  imputation.  None  but  rob 
bers  could  have  acted  as  thou  and  thy  companions 
acted." 

"  But  I  do  deny  it.  I  appeal  to  facts,  to  the 
whole  history  of  my  past  life,  to  the  eternal  foun 
tain  of  truth,  to  God,  and  man.  I  have  never  been 
what  thou  hast  named  me." 

This  solemn  denial  led  to  explanations,  which, 


202  KONINGSMARKE. 

for  the  purpose  of  compressing  in  as  short  a  space 
as  possible,  we  shall  give  in  the  way  of  a  con 
nected  narrative,  and  in  our  own  words.  For  this 
purpose  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  to  the 
period  when  the  Heer  Piper  resided  in  Finland, 
with  his  wife,  a  timid,  gentle  being,  their  daughter 
Christina,  and  the  Frizzled  Head,  then  to  all  ap 
pearance  as  old  as  on  the  day  she  died. 

At  that  period,  and,  indeed,  it  hath  ever  since 
been  too  much  the  case  with  the  north  of  Europe, 
to  the  vexation,  and  ruin,  and  degradation  of  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil,  the  province  was  infested 
with  soldiery,  who,  quartered  among  the  inhabitants, 
too  frequently  acted  like  so  many  freebooters,  rather 
than  as  protectors  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the 
people.  It  was  in  those  days,  and  it  is  still  the 
custom,  for  the  petty  princes  of  the  north  to  hire 
out  their  subjects  at  so  much  per  head,  to  cut  the 
throats,  not  of  the  enemies  of  their  country,  but  of 
those  of  the  worthy  potentate  who  paid  for  their 
services.  The  regiment  of  Holstein,  commanded 
by  Colonel  Koningsmarke,  was,  in  this  way,  em 
ployed  in  the  service  of  Sweden,  at  that  time — on 
the  eve  of  becoming  embroiled  with  the  Catholic 
powers  of  Germany.  These  foreign  auxiliaries 
and  hirelings,  as  might  be  supposed,  having  no 
attachment  to  the  soil,  no  common  interests,  or 
affinities  of  blood  or  affection  with  the  people,  too 
often  acted  as  their  oppressors,  and  plundered  and 
insulted  them  at  pleasure. 


KONINGSMARKE.  203 

One  summer  evening,  in  the  absence  of  the  Heer, 
as  Christina,  then  a  little  girl  of  about  six  years 
old,  and  her  mother, 'were  sitting,  just  about  the 
twilight,  in  a  little  low  parlour,  whose  open  win 
dows  looked  out  on  a  charming  rural  landscape, 
tinted  with  the  soft,  enchanting,  changeful  hues  of 
evening,  on  a  sudden  they  were  broken  in  upon 
by  a  party  of  ruffians,  armed,  and  apparently  half 
mad  with  liquor,  who  rudely  seized  both  mother 
and  daughter,  and,  by  wray  of  a  good  joke,  fright 
ened  them  almost  into  convulsions.  They  shrieked 
and  screamed,  but  without  any  other  effect  than 
to  bring  forth  old  Bombie,  who  assailed  the  intru- 
d.ers  with  the  most  bitter  reproaches  she  could 
devise.  This  brought  the  attention  of  the  drunken 
rout  towards  the  Frizzled  Head,  whom  they  seized, 
and,  with  great  ceremony,  proceeded,  as  they  pre 
tended,  to  decapitate  forthwith. 

Among  the  party  was  a  fair,  light-haired,  blue- 
eyed  youth,  apparently  about  fifteen  years  of  age, 
who,  however,  kept' aloof,  and  partook  not  in  any 
of  these  outrages,  until,  incited  by  the  taunts,  and 
ridicule,  and,  finally,  commanded  by  the  leader  of 
the  party,  he  came  forward  reluctantly,  and  affected 
to  assist  in  restraining  the  violent  efforts  of  poor 
Bombie,  whose  hands  they  were  endeavouring  to 
bind.  The  moment  the  boy  came  near  enough, 
Bombie  seized  him  by  the  collar,  and,  tearing  off 
his  ruff,  disclosed  a  large  and  singular  scar,  just 
under  his  ear,  in  the  shape  of  a  cross.  Christina, 


204  KONINGSMARKE. 

whose  eyes  were  naturally  turned  in  that  direction, 
also  saw  the  scar,  which  was  impressed  on  her 
memory,  not  only  by  the  terrors  of  the  scene,  but 
by  the  exclamation  of  the  Frizzled  Head,  who 
cried  out — 

"  Ah  !  ha  !  thou  bearest  a  mark — not  the  mark 
of  Cain,  but  one  by  which  I  shall  know  thee, 
whatever  changes  time  and  chance  may  produce. 
Thou  earnest  a  sign,  which  to  others  may  be  the 
emblem  of  salvation,  but  which  to  thee,  sooner  or 
later,  shall  be  the  signal  of  disgrace  and  condem 
nation.  I  will  remember  thee." 

The  youth  stood  abashed,  and  took  the  oppor 
tunity  of  a  momentary  pause,  to  whisper  the  leader 
of  the  party,  a  threat  of  representing  the  affair  to 
his  father,  if  they  proceeded  to  any  further  violence. 
The  whisper  was,  however,  unnoticed  by  those 
whom  it  was  intended  to  benefit.  The  party,  after 
eating,  drinking  or  wasting  every  thing  they  could 
find,  finally  departed,  and  returned  to  their  quarters. 
The  agitation  and  fright  produced  by  this  scene  of 
outrage,  operating  upon  the  gentle  spirits  and  weak 
frame  of  Christina's  mother,  threw  her  into  a 
nervous  fever,  which  in  a  few  weeks  terminated 
her  life.  The  impression  of  these  events  was  never 
effaced  from  the  mind  of  Christina ;  and,  in  truth, 
it  may  be  said,  that  it  strengthened  with  age,  and 
every  little  while  received  a  deeper  shade  of  horror, 
from  the  exaggerated  declamations  of  the  Frizzled 
Head;  who,  as  her  memory  became  less  retentive 


KONINGSMARKE.  205 

and  connected,  substituted  the  youth  with  the  scar 
for  the  principal  actor  in  the  death  of  her  beloved 
mistress.  In  this  way  does  memory  often  exag 
gerate  the  past,  almost  as  much  as  hope  does  the 
future. 

The  regiment  of  Koningsmarke  marched  the 
next  day  to  a  distant  part  of  the  country ;  and, 
indeed,  the  knowledge  of  this  event,  was  what 
principally  imboldened  the  ruffians  who  belonged 
to  that  corps,  to  the  outrage  we  have  related.  It 
is  not  within  our  plan  to  follow  the  Long  Finne, 
step  by  step,  till  his  appearance  at  Elsingburgh. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  he  was  left,  by  the  death  of 
his  father,  an  extravagant  daring  adventurer,  with 
out  money,  or  the  means  of  subsistence  :  that,  not 
long  afterward,  when  his  mother  died  in  great 
distress,  she  gave  him  a  letter  to  her  brother,  the 
Heer's  old  friend,  Caspar  Steinmets,  who  received 
him  as  a  son,  and  with  whom  he  lived  for  some 
time.  Old  Caspar,  however,  was  a  man  who 
thought  no  more  of  to-morrow  than  a  grasshopper, 
but  sung,  and  basked  in  the  sun,  and  was  merry  all 
day  long.  Such  men  seldom  leave  much  behind 
them,  except  a  sort  of  equivocal  posthumous  fame, 
made  up  of  a  kind  recollection  of  their  generosity 
and  good  humour,  mixed  with  a  few  shrugs  of  pity, 
at  their  want  of  prudence. 

Old  Caspar  died ;  his  money  was  all  spent ;  his 
salary,  as  high  bailiff  to  a  prince  whose  territories, 
we  are  credibly  informed,  extended  over  two 

VOL.  II — T 


206  KON1NGSMARKE. 

square  miles,  throughout  which  he  held  absolute 
sway,  ceased  with  his  latest  breath;  and  when 
honest  Caspar  was  fairly  housed  in  the  final  asylum, 
there  was  nothing  left  to  his  heir,  but  the  recollec 
tion  of  his  kindness,  that  last  legacy  of  gratitude, 
which  the  good  heart  delights  to  cherish  as  a  keep 
sake  for  ever. 

In  casting  about  where  to  choose  his  future  lot, 
or,  in  other  words,  what  he  might  do  to  keep  soul 
and  body  together,  when  the  few  rix-dollars  he  had 
about  him  should  be  melted  into  thin  air,  and  iden 
tified  with  the  things  that  have  been,  young  Kon- 
ingsmarke,  who  was  called  the  Long  Finne,  gentle 
reader !  because  he  was  born  in  Finland,  and  nearly 
six  feet  high,  was  attracted  by  the  new  world.  It 
was  now  about  the  time  when  the  dashing  adven 
turers  ;  the  ruined  lads,  who  had  wasted  their 
inheritance  ;  the  younger  brothers,  who  never  had 
any  inheritance  at  all ;  the  hero,  alive  to  glory ; 
the  daring  spirit,  willing  to  stake  his  life  on  the 
chance  of  unbounded  wealth ; "  and,  lastly,  the  pious 
convert,  ready  to  do  all,  to  dare  all,  and  to  suffer 
all,  were,  each  and  every  one,  turning  their  faces 
towards  the  setting  sun,  as  to  a  region  where  some 
might  retrieve  their  fortunes,  others  enjoy  the  lib 
erty  of  their  consciences.  Koningsmarke  knew 
that  Sweden  claimed  rights,  and  had  a  settlement 
in  this  quarter  of  the  world,  and  that  was  all  he 
knew.  He  was  little  aware  that  this  territory  was 
governed  by  the  Heer  Piper,  whose  house,  when 


KONINGSMARKE.  207 

a  boy,  he  had  entered  in  the  manner  aforesaid ; 
and,  indeed,  he  had  long  since  forgotten  the  whole 
affair,  as  we  forget  our  boyish  frolics  when  arrived 
at  the  age  of  manhood.  He  took  the  first  oppor 
tunity  of  embarking  for  the  new  world ;  arrived 
at  the  Hoarkill ;  proceeded  to  Elsingburgh  :  where 
he  fell  into  the  custody  of  that  vigilant  police  officer, 
Lob  Dotterel,  and  was  recognised  by  Bombie,  who 
accidentally  discovered  the  scar,  which,  as  rather 
unbecoming  to  his  appearance,  he  generally  hid 
with  a  high  ruff. 

Koningsmarke,  at  the  conclusion  of  this  expla 
nation,  solemnly  assured  Christina  that  every  word 
of  it  was  true ;  that  he  had  extenuated  nothing ; 
and  that,  any  farther  than  hath  been  just  related, 
he  had  no  participation  in  an  event  which  he  had 
first  learned  from  the  Frizzled  Head,  on  his  arrival 
at  Elsingburgh,  but  in  a  manner  so  mysterious  and 
exaggerated,  as  almost  convinced  him  he  was  ac 
tually  a  murderer.  Christina,  too,  when  she  looked 
attentively  backwards,  and  traced  the  progress  of 
her  impressions  with  regard  to  this  painful  event, 
could  not  but  acknowledge,  that  they  were  in  a 
great  measure  derived  from  the  declamations  of 
Bombie. 

To  the  foregoing  explanations  of  the  Long  Finne, 
we  beg  leave  to  prefix  a  few  of  our  own.  In  ad 
dition  to  the  declamatory  exaggerations  of  the 
Frizzled  Head,  it  is  probable  that  the  Long  Finne 
himself  may  have  contributed  to  mislead  our 


208  KONINGSMARKE. 

readers,  by  occasionally  indulging  in  that  inflated, 
romantic  style,  too  common  with  those  of  exalted 
imaginations — calling  himself  an  outcast,  to  whom 
the  elements  themselves  afforded  no  refuge ;  a 
prey  to  the  worm  that  never  dies — as  if  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  making  himself  interesting.  To 
this  we  may  add,  that  we  ourselves,  with  the  most 
disinterested  intentions  of  enhancing  the  reader's 
perplexity  and  delight,  in  perusing  this  work,  have 
now  and  then  coloured  the  charges  of  the  Frizzled 
Head,  and  the  admissions  of  the  Long  Finne,  a  little 
highly.  Should  the  reader  be  ill-natured  enough 
to  find  fault  with  us  for  thus  verifying  the  old  pro 
verb  that  "  a  story  never  loses  by  telling,"  we  shall 
take  care  how  we  treat  him  to  another  mystery. 

The  explanation  of  Koningsmarke,  with  his  so 
lemn  assurances  of  its  truth,  removed  a  load  that 
had  long  pressed  on  the  heart  of  Christina,  and 
when  he  again  besought  her  to  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  her  father,  she  held  out  her  hand  with  a 
smile,  such  as  had  not  lighted  up  her  eyes  for  a 
long  time  past. 

"  The  will  of  my  father  shall  be  obeyed,"  said 
the  blue-eyed  maiden ;  "for  now  I  trust  that  so  it 
can  be  done,  without  any  offence,  either  to  my 
father,  or  my  mother  that  is  in  Heaven.  Good 
Providence  !  I  thank  thee ;  I  can  now  conform 
to  his  wishes,  and  consult  my  own  heart,  without 
wedding  myself  to  never-dying  remorse.  I  am 
thine  for  ever." 


KONINGSMARKE.  209 

A  kiss  and  an  embrace  sealed  this  covenant,  just 
as  the  two  old  squires  entered  the  room. 

"  Well,"  quoth  the  Heer,  "  are  we  to  be  united 
to-morrow,  never  to  part,  or  to  part,  never  to  meet 
again  ?" 

"  She  has  said  that  to-morrow  she  will  be  mine," 
replied  the  Long  Finne,  "  and  she  never  broke  her 
word." 

"  Did  I  not  tell  thee,"  quoth  the  cavalier  Love 
lace,  "  that  there  was  nothing  like  leaving  them 
alone  ?  Egad,  there  is  always  two  to  one  against 
a  woman  in  such  a  case,  not  to  say  two  to  nothing; 
for  there  is  the  lover  and  the  lady  on  one  side,  and 
nobody  on  the  other." 

"  Well,  then,"  quoth  the  Heer,  "  to-morrow  shall 
see  thee  one." 

"  Nay,  let  it  be  the  day  after  to-morrow,"  re 
joined  Governor  Lovelace  :  "  I  must  have  time  to 
bid  the  company,  and,  'fore  Heaven,  Heer !  but 
we'll  carouse  a  little,  shall  we  ?" 

"  Verily,"  replied  the  other,  "  I  see  no  special 
reason  why  the  heart  of  an  old  man  like  me  may 
not,  on  an  occasion  like  this,  rejoice  and  be  glad. 
I  will  drink  a  bumper  to  the  name  of  the  best  of 
daughters  with  thee." 

"  Ay,  and  to  every  letter  of  her  name,  or  my 
name  is  not  Richard  Lovelace." 

This  matter  being  concluded  upon,  the  prepa 
rations  were  made  by  the  hearty  cavalier  Love 
lace,  to  celebrate  the  wedding,  in  a  style  suitable 

VOL.  II — T  2 


210  KONINGSM  ARKE. 

to  his  own  dignity,  and  the  regard  he  began  to  feel 
for  Christina,  whose  appearance  and  character  had 
won  his  warm  heart.  One  thing  he  especially 
stipulated,  to  wit,  that  the  ceremony  should  not  be 
performed  by  a  crop-ear  parson,  nor  the  wedding- 
dress  made  by  a  French  milliner.  The  former 
part  of  the  stipulation  was  easily  accorded,  and  the 
latter  was  entirely  unnecessary,  as  there  was  not 
a  single  French  milliner  at  that  time  in  the  whole 
province. 

At  length  the  happy  hour  arrived,  which  for  ever 
united  Koningsmarke  and  Christina  in  one  fate  and 
one  name.  All  the  dignitaries  of  the  city  were 
bidden,  not  forgetting  Alderman  Spangler  and  his 
dame ;  and  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  young  ladies 
present,  that  the  bridegroom  was  quite  as  handsome 
as  the  red-coats  of  Governor  Lovelace's  staff,  who 
made  such  havoc  in  the  tender  hearts  of  the  pretty 
maidens  of  New-York.  Truth,  our  governing 
principle  in  this  history,  obliges  us  to  state  that 
Governor  Lovelace,  the  Heer  Piper,  Alderman 
Spangler,  and  one  or  two  others,  did  carouse  it 
lustily  till  the  second  crowing  of  the  cock,  when 
the  governor's  old  black  valet  entered  the  room, 
and  informed  his  excellency  that  it  was  high  time 
to  go  to  bed,  an  intimation  which  he  never  failed 
to  attend  to  with  perfect  docility. 

The  day  but  one  after  the  wedding,  the  Heer, 
his  daughter,  and  the  Long  Finne,  bade  the  worthy 
cavalier  Lovelace  farewell,  and  embarked  in  his 


KONINGSMARKE.  211 

state-barge,  for  Elizabethtown  Point,  where  they 
took  up  their  line  of  march,  and  arrived  in  due 
time,  without  any  accident,  at  Elsingburgh.  After 
sojourning  a  few  days,  they  retired  to  a  beautiful 
farm,  on  the  banks  of  a  little  river,  about  halfway 
between  Elsingburgh  and  Coaquanock,  where,  in 
rural  ease,  rural  quiet,  the  enjoyment  of  leisure, 
health,  and  competency,  combined  with  exercise 
and  employment,  they  passed  quietly  down  the 
stream  of  life,  with  as  much  content  as  falls  to  the 
lot  of  this  world.  But  the  Heer  and  his  daughter 
could  never  agree  on  the  subject  of  rural  economy. 
Christina  was  for  planting  flowers,  and  ornamental 
shrubs,  and  beautifying  all  around  ;  while  the  Heer 
had  a  most  pestilent  propensity  for  the  useful,  and 
valued  a  patch  of  cabbages  above  a  bed  of  tulips- 
of  a  thousand  dyes.  Christina  at  length  succeeded 
sor  far  as  to  make  him  promise  to  pay  some  little 
attention  to  ornament,  and  cultivate  a  few  favourite 
flowers,  which  engagement  he  conscientiously  kept, 
by  planting  a  notable  bed  of  cauliflowers. 

In  process  of  time  the  good  Heer  saw  his  race 
prolonged,  in  the  person  of  a  little  blue-eyed  grand 
son,  concerning  whom  he  balanced  three  whole 
days,  in  sore  perplexity,  whether  to  call  him  after 
the  immortal  Gustavus,  or  his  good  friend  the  Gov 
ernor  of  New- York.  Gratitude  at  length  got  the 
better  of  loyalty,  and  the  boy  was  christened 
Richard  Lovelace.  The  Heer  privately  cove 
nanted  with  himself,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  next 


212  KONINGSMARKE. 

should  be  called  Gustavus  Adolphus,let  what  would 
happen. 

As  we  like  to  follow  old  customs,  sanctioned  by 
the  example  of  our  betters,  we  will  conclude  by 
gratifying  the  reader's  curiosity  with  regard  to  the 
other  principal  characters  of  our  history. 

Lob  Dotterel  being,  by  the  influence  of  the  Heer 
with  Governor  Lovelace,  reinstated  in  his  office  of 
high  constable,  passed  the  rest  of  his  days  in  busy 
importance,  and  happy  assiduity,  only  that  he  was 
occasionally  molested  by  the  intrusion  of  the  ghost 
of  Bombie  of  the  Frizzled  Head,  which  never  for 
gave  his  agency  in  the  catastrophe  of  the  likely 
fellow  Cupid. 

Poor  Othman  Pfegel  having  been  confidentially 
apprized,  that  the  Long  Finne  intended  to  take  the 
first  opportunity  of  giving  him  a  sufficiency  of 
drubbing  to  last  him  all  the  days  of  his  life,  de 
parted  suddenly — not  this  world,  but  the  village  of 
Elsingburgh,  and  settled  down  at  the  Hoarkill, 
where  nobody  thought  it  worth  while  to  molest  him. 

The  worthy  Heer  Piper  lived  happily  to  a  good 
patriarchal  old  age,  and  though  he  sometimes  sighed 
over  the  recollection  of  his  departed  glories,  it  was 
but  a  momentary  feeling,  which  the  duteous  atten 
tions  of  his  daughter  and  the  smiles  of  his  grand 
children  soon  soothed  away.  He  seldom  went 
from  home,  except  once  a  year  to  visit  his  good 
friend  William  Penn,  arid  the  worthy  Shadrach 
Moneypenny,  with  whom  he  had  many  a  bout 


KONINGSMARKE.  213 

concerning  the  wearing  of  hats,  the  propriety  of 
making  bows,  and  the  moving  of  the  spirit.  But  so 
far  from  making  any  impression  on  the  dry  soil  of 
Shadrach,  it  was  observed  that  whenever  he  saw 
the  Heer  approaching  he  would  adjust  his  beaver 
with  most  determined  emphasis,  and  give  it  a  smart 
rap  on  the  crown,  as  if  in  defiance  of  his  old 
antagonist. 

Dominie  Kanttwell,  not  long  after  the  capture  of 
Elsingburgh,  married  the  prettiest  and  richest  girl 
in  the  whole  village,  and  the  next  Sunday  preached 
a  mortal  philipic  against  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and 
the  mammon  of  unrighteousness.  On  this  un 
looked-for  backsliding  of  the  Dominie,  aunt  Edith 
took  a  distaste  to  his  doctrines,  turned  Sweden- 
borgian,  and  married  Wolfgang  Langfanger,  then  a 
spruce  widower,  who  privately  declared,  one  night 
at  Master  Oldale's,  that  the  improvement  of  this 
good  lady  was  the  hardest  task  he  ever  undertook 
in  his  life. 

Shortly  after  the  marriage  of  Dominie  Kantt 
well,  that  worthy  died  suddenly,  after  a  New- 
Year's  supper.  He  was  succeeded  by  a  man  full 
of  charity,  full  of  humility,  and  all  the  examples  of 
a  virtuous  pastor.  Without  pride,  without  arro 
gance,  and  without  hypocrisy,  there  was  a  beau 
tiful  simplicity  in  his  life  and  actions,  a  kindness,  a 
gentleness,  a  forbearance,  harmoniously  combined 
with  a  holy  zeal,  a  never-tiring  industry  in  doing 
good  to  all,  that  marked  him  out  as  one  of  those 


214  KONINGSMARKE. 

chosen  shepherds  sent  by  Heaven  as  a  blessing  to 
some  chosen  flock.  Cheerful  without  levity,  he 
joined  in  all  the  innocent  amusements  of  his  simple 
parishioners,  and  happy  himself  in  the  consciousness 
of  a  useful  and  virtuous  life,  as  well  as  in  the  rational 
anticipation  of  a  blissful  eternity,  he  walked  among 
his  people,  not  as  a  shadow  darkening  all  around, 
but  as  a  sun  cheering,  animating,  blessing  those 
who  basked  in  his  smiles. 

Careless  of  his  rest,  and  his  personal  labours,  he 
was  ready  at  all  times,  by  day  and  by  night,  to  go 
forth  to  comfort  the  afflicted,  relieve  the  sick,  and 
sooth  the  dying.  He  asked  nothing  for  himself,  and 
he  gave  every  thing  to  others  ;  he  laboured  not  in 
his  own  vineyard,  but  in  that  of  his  master,  and  the 
fruits  of  his  exertions  soon  became  visible  to  every 
eye.  A  cheerful,  innocent  gayety,  again  began  to 
appear  in  the  village ;  the  people  went  forth  to 
their  daily  occupations  with  smiling  hopes,  that 
caused  every  one  to  exert  themselves  in  their 
various  pursuits.  Begging  began'to  take  refuge  in 
the  labours  of  its  own  hands,  and  found  its  reward 
in  the  comforts  of  independence,  and  the  approving 
smile  of  the  excellent  pastor,  who  never  lost  an 
opportunity  of  rebuking  the  idle,  or  applauding  the 
industrious,  for  well  he  knew  that  among  all  classes 
of  mankind,  and  most  especially  the  labourers,  idle 
ness  is  but  another  name  for  sin  and  misery. 

In  short,  blessed  by  such  an  example,  and  led 
by  such  a  guide,  it  was  not  long  before  Elsingburgh 


KONINGSMARKE.  215 

became  the  model  of  a  virtuous  and  happy  village, 
and  it  might  be  said  with  truth,  that  neither  poverty 
or  vice  was  any  longer  known  among  them.  Such 
are  the  benefits  of  a  good  example  combined  with 
good  precepts,  and  such  the  blessings  of  a  pious 
shepherd  who  fulfils  his  duties  to  Ms  Maker,  to  his 
creatures,  and  to  the  holy  calling  by  which  he  is 
sanctified  and  ennobled. 


END    OF    KONINGSMAIIKE. 


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